


Everything is Better, Part Two

by CeleryLapel



Series: Everything is Better the Second Time Around [2]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, Baby, Drug Use, F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Jeff as (almost) stepdad, Language, Mild Smut, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-05-27 15:28:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 144,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6289942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeleryLapel/pseuds/CeleryLapel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a continuation of the series, “Everything is Better the Second Time Around.”</p><p>If Annie Edison had a child before she entered Greendale and how this situation might have shaped her and Jeff’s relationship. Technically AU but will incorporate many of the events from the show.  Some liberties will be taken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Uncomfortable Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> As promised, here is Chapter 1 of Part 2. Thank you, dear readers, for following along. And a big appreciation to all of you who have provided feedback, ideas, and encouragement along the way. 
> 
> We pick up the day after the Tranny Dance. 
> 
> Chapter Summary: Annie and Jeff talk with important people in their lives
> 
> Disclaimer: Community and its original characters are the creation of Dan Harmon.

Annie and Jeff began their summer break cuddled on Annie’s couch. This was a slight problem, as well, _Jeff didn’t cuddle_ , and yet he found himself wrapped around Annie as he awoke to the cries of Sophie Edison.

“What the hell?” He mumbled into the back of Annie’s neck. He realized to his slight horror they were spooning.

“Hm?” There was a pause as Annie shuffled her legs, thereby pressing her backside up against him. Jeff fought to contain himself as he quickly moved back just a little. It was morning and he certainly didn’t need for her to know about _that_ at this moment.

“Oh, I’m just gonna get her.” Annie mumbled as she disentangled herself from Jeff and arose.

Jeff rolled onto his back and placed his arm over his eyes. He found his consciousness rapidly returning as Sophie continued to wail. After a minute or two thankfully she stopped.   Jeff peeked out from his arm to notice it was still dark. He fumbled around on the table and picked up his phone. He shuddered when he saw the time. _Five am._

Well so much for his grand plan to sleep in on his first day of summer break.

Of course nothing that had happened in the past twelve hours had been a part of his plan. He still couldn’t even figure out how he ended up falling asleep with Annie. He noted with gnawing apprehension this was the second time they had fallen asleep together like this on her couch. And the third time they had _slept_ together if he counted New Year’s. He told himself that at least the first time was due to more emotional exhaustion than anything else and that he had been kinda forced to stay since she seemed like a wreck. He couldn’t just leave her like that, right? As for last night, he had vague recollections of watching some stupid movie while sitting next to her. He then started to picture Annie becoming sleepy and falling into him very slowly. He felt slightly conflicted about this at the time but didn’t really want to be a jerk about it so he let gravity take its course. He had fuzzy memories of turning off the television.

He sighed as he wondered what they were even doing. Given the ambiguous nature of their relationship, err friendship at this juncture, it was probably a bad idea for him to have fallen asleep. But at least they were on the couch and at least they hadn’t _technically_ done anything. He found himself feeling a bit warm as he recalled what they _had_ done the previous evening. _Not nothing._

In his jumbled early morning thoughts, he tried not to think about her lace panties. _Was she still wearing them or did she change into something more comfortable? What color were they? She had been wearing a dark blue dress. Did they match? …. Stop!_

He decided to give himself a break on this one. He’d have to wait to see what the negotiations turned up before he could fully evaluate the situation. Right now he needed either sleep or coffee.

Annie padded back into the room holding Sophie. She turned on a small lamp and then gently sat down in the chair. She held Sophie to her chest and pulled out a magazine.

Jeff mumbled, “Is she starting her day?”

Annie tensed.   “Jeff! I thought you were asleep!”

Jeff spoke while continuing to hold his arm over his eyes. “Sorry. Nope, I’m awake. And becoming more awake it seems as I continue to remain conscious.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

He yawned. “I need coffee.”

“You’re welcome to make some. I have my hands full.”

He sighed wearily as he sat up and began rubbing his face. He glanced over to Annie and was taken by the sight of her nursing Sophie.   Although he had been in her presence before while she fed the baby, there was usually a nursing cover or blanket involved. Clearly Annie had thought she was essentially alone with Sophie in the wee hours of the morning while he slept, as there was definitely no obscuring of what was happening. Although he couldn’t fully see her breast, he could see most of it and definitely what Sophie was doing.

He was conscious of feeling conflicted between a sense he had intruded on something intimate with a desire to avert his gaze and the rising irrationality of feeling a little bit jealous. He wasn’t allowed to touch them, and yet _she_ got to.

_Britta’s right. I am a pig._

He realized he had been staring. Annie was looking at him with a bemused expression on her face. She glanced at Sophie and then back at him. She shook her head while rolling her eyes.  

She mouthed silently to him, _“Oh come on.”_

He grumbled as he averted his gaze. “Goddamn it. It’s five am. And how the hell did I fall asleep here? My back is killing me.”

“I don’t remember. I think we must have passed out.” Annie smirked and then resumed looking through the magazine.

“Right.” He got up and went into the kitchen to begin making coffee. _A whole pot might do the trick._

“And could you please refrain from swearing around my child?   She’s starting to understand more words you know.”

He turned to look at her while he made his coffee preparations. “Wait…she doesn’t talk.”

Annie cast him a reproachful look. “She understands. And in a little bit she’ll start parroting back anything we say.”

Jeff smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” He filled up the coffee pot with water and then began pouring it into the coffee maker.   He paused and took a deep breath before looking back at her. “So it’s not weird that I slept here, right?”

She glanced up from her magazine. “Jeff, please don’t be all control-freaky about this. We fell asleep. It happens. Last night was kind of depleting after everything…”

“True.”

“And I wanted to thank you, actually.”

“For what?”

“For watching a movie with me. It was nice to have the company and for us to just zone out a little after everything. But I’m sorry if you feel that falling asleep afterward was too _relationshippy._ It doesn’t have to be, you know.”

He sighed. “I know, Annie. Look, it’s fine. I fell asleep watching movies with Abed in his dorm room too.”

“But you lived there.”

He pursed his lips before turning back to load coffee grounds into the filter. “Yeah but, and I will deny this if you ever mention it to anyone else, there may have been more than one occasion when I awoke to Abed drooling on my shoulder.”

Annie stifled a laugh. “Troy would not like that at all.”

Jeff was looking at the coffee grounds and frowned. “What?” He squinted his eyes as he regarded the filter. _Oh what the hell, I’ll just double the recommended amount._

“Nevermind.” She decided to change the subject. “So this is our first day of summer break.   Any big plans?”

He pressed the ‘on’ button and then walked over and sat back on the couch. He leaned back and closed his eyes. “I think we both know what I’ll be doing today. Fuck.”

“Jeff, language!”

“Sorry.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to talk to your _love declarers_ , right?”

He sat up and nodded while staring at the wall. “Christ.”

She frowned. “While not technically a swear, I think it was the way you just used it.”

He rubbed his face. “Dam…Darnnit. Annie, I haven’t had any caffeine yet and it’s obscenely early. It’s our first day of summer vacation.”

“I’m not really on vacation.”

He glanced at her. “I can see that. What else are you doing this summer?”

She smiled and looked down at Sophie. “Working.   And helping Sophie with her goals.”

He turned to look at her directly. “Oh come on, Annie. She has goals?”

Annie looked up and nodded enthusiastically.

He sighed. “What am I saying? Of course she does.”

Annie continued grinning and turned back to the baby. “I figure she’s on track to start walking in a few weeks. And she’s been babbling more, so I’m hoping maybe I can get a word or two out of her over the summer.” Her expression sobered as she continued, “Sometimes I think she says ‘mama’ but I might be fooling myself. I think she just likes to make ‘mm’ sounds.”

He nodded and suppressed a smile. “I’m sure she’ll meet her goals and then some. I mean with you as her coach and all. You really got us all through Spanish this year.”

Annie looked at him and beamed proudly. “Thanks, I did.” She tilted her head and crinkled her eyes. “Hey, what are you doing this summer anyway, you know, after you talk to your _lovelorn ladies_?”

He wondered if she’d ever let him off the hook for the Tranny Dance fiasco.

He leaned back and draped an arm over the couch. “Oh, after those _I’m sure to be delightful conversations_ I’m planning to hit the gym and then kick back the rest of the weekend. Monday I start some consulting work for Ted. It’s not that involved, but still it’ll be nice to have some return to my normal life. I even have a meeting later this week where I get to dress all lawyerly again.”

Annie blushed as a smile crept across her face. “Oooh….you mean you’re going to wear a suit?”

He smirked and held her gaze. “Yes, of course.”

“Do I get to see you in it?” She fluttered her eyes.

Jeff was conscious of the potential implications of his next statement. While they still hadn’t fully negotiated, he realized in this moment he was more than a little bit interested in having her see him in his suit. And perhaps out of it.

He bit his lip and then affected a nonchalant manner. “Maybe. We could make plans.”

Jeff left Annie’s place a little while later and it was only slightly awkward in saying goodbye. They both didn’t quite know how to do this. They normally hugged so decided that would be an appropriate thing to do in this situation. The fact that the embrace lasted significantly longer than usual didn’t mean anything. 

*************************

After discussing it with Annie, Jeff decided the best course of action was to tackle the Britta situation first. He waited until it was a decent hour (decent for Jeff and Britta was closer to noon) and then he sent her a text asking if they could talk. It wasn’t until one pm when she replied, first telling him to fuck himself ( _hey!_ ), and after some back and forth texts finally relenting to meet him for coffee.

He was going to need a lot of caffeine to get through today. At least one advantage of getting up so goddamn early was he had plenty of time for a good workout this morning. _Five am. Christ._

Britta stumbled into the coffee shop and plopped down on the chair across from Jeff. He glanced up from his phone and took in the sight before him.

“Yikes, you look…interesting. Especially for summer.” He eyed her disheveled hair, loose leather biker jacket, and combat boots. He noticed she was wearing extremely dark sunglasses. Indoors.

“Fuck off.”

He smelled the stench of cigarettes on her breath. And perhaps a hint of something else.

“Are you high?” He shoved a cup of coffee over to her. Strong and black.

“You’re an asshole.” She cupped the coffee and took a sip.

“I know. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“No!” She clutched the cup more tightly.

He raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure? Cause I don’t want to have this conversation again.”

“Ass.” She scowled as she hunched over.

He leaned forward and placed his arms on the table, cupping his mug of coffee. “Britta, look, I’m really sorry. I just didn’t know what to do last night. You kinda caught me off guard.”

She mumbled something under her breath.

“I didn’t catch that.”

“Ass.”

“I thought I was a pig.”

She leaned back and crossed her arms. Jeff supposed she was staring at him but he couldn’t see through her dark glasses.

He leaned back and crossed his arms as well. “Goddamn it Britta, you told me you _loved me_. In front of the whole school. With a microphone. Don’t you think it would have been better to have told me that in private?”

“I don’t love you.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t. I was just being stupid.”

“I see. Care to elaborate?”

Britta pursed her lips and took a deep breath. She turned to look out the window. “Slater and I had words. I needed to show that bitch who was boss. And I couldn’t let her get her claws back into you. So I just blurted out the first thing I thought of that had any chance of getting you to stop making out with her.”

Jeff’s mouth fell open. “Making out?!? She kissed _me_. And it was in no way a make out!”

Britta continued to look out the window. “I couldn’t tell. It went by so quickly.”

He sighed as he resumed drinking his coffee. “Well you didn’t have to worry. I wasn’t really reciprocating her advances. She caught me by surprise as well.”

She turned to look at him. “Oh. So I didn’t have to make my intervention then?”

“Nope.”

“Ass.” She grabbed her coffee cup and took a long sip.

“You can’t blame me for your love declaration!”

She smirked as she leaned back while cradling her mug and propping her feet on a nearby chair. The barista glanced over and frowned.

“Maybe not but I can certainly hold it against you that you fled the scene. A woman declares her _love_ for you and you just bolt? Real classy, Jeff.”

He rolled his eyes. “ _Both you and Michelle_ declared your love for me. Who does that?!? It was crazy, Britta! Look, I’m sorry I left but really, what the _hell?_ ”

Britta nodded smugly. “I told you she’s a _bitch_.”

He regarded her curiously. “I thought you were a feminist. Aren’t you supposed to be offended by that word or something?”

“I am. _You_ can’t call her a bitch but I can. Especially since it fits.”

He sighed. “I see. May I ask what happened?”

Britta nodded slowly. “She insulted me. And our whole study group.”

“Oh come on.”

Britta put her feet down and leaned forward on the table. She pulled her sunglasses down slightly and stared at Jeff. “She did! She thinks she’s better than all of us. She went on and on about how she was going to make you forget all about us over the summer. Something about turning you into a mature person or some such crap.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her bloodshot orbs. _Not high my ass._

He frowned as he considered her words. “Really?”

She nodded as she continued looking at him. “And the worst of it was she really went after Annie. God, it was real bitchy of her. I mean, I can take it. But _Annie_?”

Jeff startled. “She what?”

“I don’t think she said anything to Annie directly. Actually I don’t even remember if Annie was at the dance, but Slater definitely said stuff to me about Annie.   And Sophie. Can you believe it? She’s dissing on a _baby_.”

He sat up straighter. “What the hell? What did she say?”

“Oh, that got you. I see.” She smirked.

He looked at her intently. “Tell me.”

Britta sighed. “She ragged on how Annie was a love-addicted, drug-addicted mess. I believe she also called her a _train wreck_. And the Sophie stuff was just added onto that. Basically she has a problem with you spending any time around Annie and her kid.”

Jeff was slightly floored by this information. While he knew Michelle wasn’t a big fan of him spending time with Annie, he thought she had been reevaluating that standpoint recently. But now he was under the impression the only reason she made those statements was because she was trying to manipulate him. _And Annie’s not a train wreck. She’s amazing._

Jeff tensed. “What the _hell_?”

“I know. See. She’s a bitch.”

“I’ll say.”

“You can’t say it, Jeff. But I can. Oh hell, I’ll give you a pass right now. Go ahead.”

He pursed his lips. “Bitch.”

Britta nodded and then attempted to fist bump Jeff. It was all very awkward as she missed and smacked him in the forehead.

After some mutual apologies and _bitching_ , Britta spent the next several minutes filling Jeff in on what he missed after he left the dance. All Jeff could gather from Britta’s drunken recollections was that the fight between Ian and Chang had escalated with various students piling on one or the other as the situation became more heated. And there may have been some hair pulling involving a certain bitchy professor and a vengeful Shirley. And of course the Dean had needed to call an ambulance from his perch on top off the cafeteria cabinets.

He realized he was going to lose his nerve in _not-avoiding_ the awkward situation with Britta if he didn’t do it now. He broke in. “Britta, as entertaining as this sounds, can we just talk seriously for a sec?”

She pushed her glasses back over her eyes and leaned back. “Sure. What?”

He gulped. “Okay, I don’t want to make this too weird. Please bear with me. I just need to be clear.”

She nodded hesitantly. “Okay. Shoot.”

He took a deep breath. “We had sex.”

He thought he detected an eye roll from her.

She crossed her arms. “I vaguely remember that, jerkface.”

He looked out the window and rapped his fingers on the table.   “Yeah. And look, I know I may have said something the other night at Abed’s party indicating I might be interested in doing that again.”

“Riiight.”

“But I don’t think we should.”

She huffed.   “Oh come on, Jeff! Are you serious? Do you think I’m pining away for you or something?  Just because I shouted my love for you does in no way mean I’m all _oh-my-god-I-need-to-get-me-some-more-Jeff-Winger_ pathetic-ness.”

He winced and then looked back at her. “I didn’t mean that. I just wanted to tell you that I thought about it and realized I don’t want to ruin our friendship. Things might get weird. Or more accurately, _weirder_.”

She shook her head. “I don’t love you. I’m not some crazy stalker.”

“I know. And hey, weren’t you the one who said you wanted to forget about it? That it was stupid and impulsive?”

She looked at the floor and began pushed the toe of her boot into the table leg. “It was. And I do. Want to forget about it.”

He nodded. “Okay, then I think we’re on the same page.”

She leaned over the table and pulled her glasses down again while looking at him curiously. “While I agree this is probably a good call, it’s definitely a _mature_ decision. One that is not befitting of Jeff Winger. What gives?”

He sighed and looked away. “I dunno. I’ve just been thinking is all. And while _paintball_ was fun, I don’t think we should do it again. Especially given that both of our initial reactions were to try to forget about it.”

She smiled slightly. “That makes sense. It’s still a mature call, though. Are you growing up or something?”

“Maybe.” He turned to her and stuck out his tongue.

She snorted.

****************

On his way out of the coffee shop, Jeff sent a brief text to Michelle.   He wasn’t going to waste his time in talking with her. He hoped Britta wouldn’t mind too much if he liberally made use of her permission to use a certain word in this circumstance.

He felt this phone buzz and gritted his teeth before he took a look. _Oh._ He let out a breath. He shoved his phone in his pocket and went to go check on a battered British lunatic. 

****************

Annie sat with Shirley on a bench in the park. Shirley watched with the blasé demeanor of a seasoned and tired mother as Jordan and Elijah climbed over the playground equipment. Annie busied herself with attending to Sophie on her lap.

“This is really nice, Shirley. Thanks for inviting us to join you guys.”

Shirley turned to Annie, “Oh, sweetie. I’m really glad to see you. We missed you at the dance last night.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I couldn’t get there.”

“Sweetie, I’m so very sorry. Thanks for texting me this morning to let me know about you and Vaughn. I had kind of been hoping since you didn’t make it to the dance maybe the two of you um, worked things out?” She shot a suspicious and perhaps slightly gleeful look in Annie’s direction.

Annie shook her head. “No, Shirley. We did break up.”

Shirley frowned. “Oh. Lacey was under the impression you two were still in the process of ahem, working things out when you picked up this little one here last night.” She raised her eyebrows and looked at Annie hopefully.

“Well Lacey was mistaken…” Annie looked over to the boys in order to avoid Shirley’s gossipy eyes.

Shirley persisted. “He spent the night though?”

Annie swatted at the air while continuing to look away. “Shirley! No, he did not!”

“Cause Lacey said…”

Annie raised Sophie up and helped her push off her lap. She focused her attention on the baby as she responded. “She didn’t have all the facts. He actually decided to leave for Delaware last night after our discussion. He loaded up his van and took off. You know, for a fresh start. He thought why wait?”

Shirley’s expression softened. “Oh.”

“And I guess I’m a little surprised you’d be disappointed about us breaking up. I didn’t think you really approved of us seeing each other.”

Shirley scoffed. “Sweetie you know that’s not true. Sure, maybe I didn’t really see the two of you together. You seemed so different. But he seemed to treat you well and this little angel could use a daddy.” Shirley grabbed Sophie out of Annie’s arms, stood her up on her lap, and began making faces at her.

Annie bristled as she turned to Shirley. “She has a daddy.”

Shirley lowered her voice and looked at her sternly. “Then where is he?”

Annie turned away with tears in her eyes and observed the boys on the playground. She whispered, “He’s coming over for a visit tomorrow, actually.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice.”

*****************

Nancy cleared the plates from the table after dinner. Ryan scooped up Sophie and made a beeline for the living room.

Annie turned and shouted, “Watch it! She just ate. She might spit up!”

Nancy turned to her. “Don’t worry. He’s fine with her you know. And if she throws up on him it’ll teach him a lesson.” She stifled a laugh.

Annie rolled her eyes. “And then he’s cleaning her up too.”

“I think being around her makes him want to have one. He’s been mentioning it.”

Annie stared at her. “Really? Oh wow.”

Nancy shook her head and smiled softly. “But I’m not really ready to do that yet.”

Annie nodded. “Right. But does that mean you guys are getting more serious?”

Nancy sighed. “Well, yeah I guess. I mean this whole living together thing is working out really well. I wish my schedule was more predictable with fewer night shifts, but I’m hoping to transfer to a different department next year. So maybe I can think about the whole baby thing then.” Nancy put the last plate in the sink.

Annie smiled. “Awww…you’d make a great mom. You’re so good with Sophie. Yay!” She clapped her hands together.

Nancy turned back to her and smiled slightly. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to fill you in on any developments.”

“You better.”

“And if I do end up working only days we probably need to talk about other childcare arrangements for Sophie. Not that I want to alarm you or anything. It won’t be for a while. I just thought I should give you a heads up.”

Annie nodded and hunched slightly. “Right. Yeah, of course.” She looked up at Nancy and smiled weakly. “You’ve been so helpful to me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you watching Sophie so that I can work. But I know I need to start figuring stuff out a little more.”

Nancy leaned against the counter and shook her head. “It’s fine. Really. It helps me to help you, you know.   I really want you to make a success of things. And I’m fully supportive of you keeping Sophie with you. I’ve never wanted to see you two separated.”

Annie teared slightly as she picked up Sophie’s bib. “Yeah, it’s been a rough year. Part of me is constantly terrified I can’t do this. Or that I made a mistake, you know, in not giving her to a stable family.”

“You can do this. You are.”

Annie looked up and wiped her eyes. She quickly shifted to smiling brightly. “Yes, yes I am. And I’m going to make this work. Sophie and I will be just fine.”

Nancy took a deep breath. “Annie, look I wanted you to come over tonight so we can talk. That’s actually why Ryan grabbed Sophie just now. I told him I wanted to speak to you alone.”

Annie stiffened as Nancy sat back down at the table. “About what?”

Nancy looked at Annie with a soft expression in her eyes. “I’m so sorry about you and Vaughn. How are you?”

Annie smiled weakly. “Thanks. I’m fine.   A little sad but I know it was right to end things.”

Nancy nodded and took her hand with a squeeze. “I think you did the right thing.”

Annie pulled her hand away and remarked in a terse tone,  “I’m perfectly aware you think that. I know you didn’t like him.”

Nancy’s eyes widened as she spoke quickly, “I never said that. All I said was that you didn’t need to be making any commitments to the guy. He seemed pretty loosey-goosey to me. You need more stability.”

Annie held her back up straight while lacing her hands together in her lap. “He did want us to be more stable. You know he wanted us to get married or something along those lines.”

Nancy sighed and she leaned her head on her hand. “That’s not what I mean by stability. He was too flighty when it came to the basics. I think he liked the idea of being with you more than he would have in reality.”

Annie opened her mouth wide in indignation. “Hey!”

“You know what I mean. You like and need structure. And you would have needed to push him more on that and he would have probably resented it.”

Annie stared Nancy down. “Please stop. I get it. And I don’t see why we need to talk about this anymore. I ended it. He took off for Delaware already.   We’re done.”

“I know. The reason I’m bringing this up is as a warning for the next time.”

Annie rolled her eyes and then looked away, folding her arms across her chest. “Oh please….”

Nancy didn’t take her eyes off of Annie. “You’re an attractive girl. Someone else will come around, and you need to be careful.”

Annie glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. “For my recovery?”

“Yes.”

Annie shrugged. “I know.”

“Good.”

Annie hesitated before speaking, “Actually I’ve already been giving it a lot of thought. You know, what I need right now at this point in my life as far as men.”

“I’m glad to hear that. What are you thinking?”

Annie reddened as she grabbed Sophie’s bib and began smoothing it on the table. “Okay, this might sound really terrible. Please don’t judge me but I want to tell you. I need to tell someone.”

Nancy leaned in. “Annie, of course. You know you can tell me anything. It’s actually best if you do.”

Annie widened her eyes as she glanced up. “No judgment?”

“I’ll try.”

“Okay.” Annie took a deep breath. “You remember my friend Jeff?”

Nancy sighed. “Of course I do. We met, remember? And you’ve spoken of him many times.” She paused before continuing, “ I think I know where this is going… he’s very cute.”

Annie nodded and smiled. “He is, isn’t he? He’s adorable!”

Nancy narrowed her eyes as she shook her head slightly. “Annie, you just broke up with Vaughn…”

Annie took a long breath and began kneading the bib. “You said no judgment. And I know that’s what feels weird about it. That’s why I didn’t do it with him last night.”

Nancy made a slight gasp. “What happened last night?”

Annie blushed and glanced quickly over to Nancy before looking back down. “We made out. Big time. It was a-ma-zing!” She let out a slight squeak.

Nancy closed her eyes and placed her hand to her forehead. “Annie. Please, I beg of you, slow this down.”

Annie continued to focus her attention on her machinations with the bib. “I know. I already did. You’d be proud of me. I stopped it before anything actually happened,” She lowered her voice, “You know, sex wise.”

Nancy opened her eyes. “Good … But you made out? Like how much of a make out are we talking…”

Annie’s blush deepened into a crimson hue. She was aware that Nancy would likely not approve of how far she and Jeff took things last night, mostly because Nancy was a cautious sort. She hesitated, “Um, it was kinda involved…”

“Really?”

Annie looked down for a moment before resuming eye contact. “It was just hands-stuff. He knows, um, what he’s doing. And lots of great kissing.”

“I see.”

Annie could sense judgment in Nancy’s tone. But she was aware Nancy didn’t really know Jeff and of course would be worried about her getting involved with any guy right now. She also felt an urgent need to confide in someone about what had happened. She found the words spilling out of her, “We kept most of our clothes on. But I still got to see his abs …. Nancy, I may have licked them!” Annie placed her hand over her mouth and widened her eyes.

Nancy’s tone was terse. “Oh my god.”

Annie looked at her pleadingly. For some reason, she wanted Nancy’s blessing. “I really want to have sex with him.”

Nancy sighed loudly.

Annie continued, aware from Nancy’s reactions that she was unlikely to be given carte blanche, “And I think we’re going to. At least that’s the tentative plan.”

“Plan?”

Annie sat up straighter and puffed out her chest. _Might as well own this, Edison. You don’t need her permission._ “You know I like to have a plan. It helps me feel more grounded. So we had a discussion. We’re going to slow it down and then re-evaluate the situation. Then we may explore more physical aspects to our friendship.”

Nancy grimaced. “I see.”

“But I don’t want to like date-date him.”

“Oh my god, are you cooking up a friends-with-benefits arrangement?”

Annie nodded. “Yes. And before you say anything, this was my idea. I don’t want another Vaughn situation with a guy pushing me for something I’m not ready for. I don’t want to get lost in a relationship.”

“Well we agree on that one.”

Annie smiled as she gazed dreamily in the air. “And that’s what makes Jeff perfect. He’s not looking for any sort of relationship either. He can compartmentalize.”

“Annie, how well do you even know him?”

She nodded slowly. “Pretty well, I think. At least when it comes to the important stuff. He can be ridiculous sometimes, but I like him. And he makes me feel safe.”

“You know these types of arrangements can backfire. You need to be careful. Please.”

Annie turned to look at her and bit her lip. “I know it’s a risk. He knows it too. But Nancy, and I can’t tell anyone else this because I don’t want it blabbed around Greendale, but based on our make out I think the sex will be really, really good!” She smiled giddily.

“Annie! Jeff will _not_ be your new addiction.”

Annie opened her mouth in shock. “He’s not! He’s a sweetheart. And I think he’ll be amazing in bed. I deserve to have some fun.”

Nancy shook her head. “Please be careful. Don’t mistake sex for love.”

Annie nodded solemnly. “I already made the mistake of equating sex with love. I know it’s not always like that.”

 

*****************

Jeff eyed a bandaged Ian as he moaned on his couch.

“Your place is a real bachelor pad.” He placed a bag of ice in the freezer.

“Shut up, Winger. I can’t be bothered to clean given my condition.”

Jeff walked over and sat down across from him. “Chang broke your nose last night, not five years ago. This place is filthy. Are those pizza boxes piled over there?”

Ian swatted the air. “That’s not important. What is important is that I’m going to kill that gnomish bastard. And if you’re a good friend you will offer your assistance.”

Jeff smirked. “See I’m not a good friend.”

“Then why are you here?” Ian held an ice pack to his cheek.

Jeff stared at him, finding it odd that Ian Duncan was no longer wearing his glasses. His eyes were like pins.

He cleared his throat. “You texted begging for ice and saying it was all my fault. And I heard you went to the ER. I got your texts last night. And Garrett’s…”

“How the fuck did I end up with that shrieky mess anyway? You were supposed to take me to the ER not him.”

Jeff was annoyed. “Since when did we make that deal?”

“It was implied. I expected you to run off but you were supposed to come back for your dear friend.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Oh come on.”

Ian leaned forward and pointed his finger at Jeff. “I’m the one who provided you with the perfect distraction, Winger. Be grateful.”

“For your obscene rap?”

Ian narrowed his eyes. “Hey you were able to escape, weren’t you?”

Jeff shrugged. “Right. Err … thank you?”

“You are very welcome. And try to sound more sincere.”

“Thank you.” Jeff affected a mock half-bow.

Ian nodded with a sense of righteousness and then grimaced at the pain. “And I’m suspended for the summer. Without pay. So this whole thing royally blows.”

Jeff nodded. “Yup. Yes it sure does. Sucks to be you.”

Ian leaned back temporarily satisfied. “Where did you go anyway? You seem remarkably composed for going on a bender last night.”

Jeff looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “That’s because I didn’t.”

“Hm? Do tell.”

Jeff shook his head as he fixed his gaze on the floor. “I just did some thinking is all.”

Ian grinned. “Riiight. So Team Britta or Slater?”

“Neither.”

“Oh that will go over well I’m sure.”

Jeff sighed. “I already talked to Britta. We had coffee right before I came here. She’s not in love with me. She just said that to show up Michelle. So we’re cool.”

“Well, well, well. I certainly did not peg you for taking the direct route. I would have thought you would have avoided her all summer. And then of course there would be some dramatic incident when session resumed in the fall.”

Jeff smirked as he quickly looked at Ian and then picked up his phone. He began to scroll through his texts. “Well I guess you don’t know me that well. I wanted to do the decent thing so that Britta and I can remain friends.”

Ian looked at Jeff incredulously. “But you’re going to bang her again, right?”

Jeff shook his head. “Hell no. We agreed on that. Not a good idea.”

Ian eyed Jeff suspiciously, his questioning tone rising stridently, “And no Team Slater?”

Jeff reddened and clenched his jaw. “Most definitely not. I’m not speaking to her.”

Ian frowned. “Wait … what?”

Jeff began scrolling through his texts aggressively. “Britta filled me in on what went down between them. Did you know she insulted my whole study group?”

“Well, my friend, that’s fairly easy to do…”

“And she really has it in for Annie.   And Sophie.   Apparently, she thinks Annie is a terrible mess of a person and destined to pull me into the oblivion with her. Bitch.”

Ian shot up his eyebrows. “That does sound harsh.”

“I know. So obviously there’s zero chance we’re getting back together.” Jeff couldn’t stop thinking about how caring Michelle had sounded when she asked to grab coffee. And the whole time she was judging Annie.

Ian nodded emphatically. “Got it. You have to defend Big Boob’s honor.”

Jeff shifted his posture so that he was turned slightly away from Ian. “That’s not exactly what I’m talking about…”

Ian waived at the air. “Sure it is.” He added, “Just remember, she has that dirty boyfriend.”

Jeff avoided Ian’s gaze as he began to pick some lint off the couch. “She ended it.”

“Wait…what? When?”

“Last night.”

Ian shot up, wincing through his pain. “Whoa there. Where _did_ you end up going after the dance?”

“Why the hell should I tell you?”

“I can already surmise. Tsk tsk, Winger.”

“You don’t understand.” Jeff realized Ian was way onto him more than he initially thought. He’d have to give him something but also shut him up. He had a feeling he’d be spending a significant amount of time buying ice this summer.

“I think I do. And remember I am a trained and licensed therapist. I think you need to talk this through with someone.” He wiggled his eyebrows and then winced again.

“I’m not telling you any salacious details.” _Most definitely not anything about the lace panties._

Ian placed a hand on his chest and dropped his head. “Oh of course.”

“And you are under strict orders not to tell my mom anything about this.”

“Not a problem. You know I only tell Dorie things that will make her happy. I have it on fact that she would not be happy at all about you running away from two women and then impulsively hooking up with her favorite little Annie.”

“Nothing happened. We mostly just talked.”

“Mostly?”

“Oh shut up.”

 

 


	2. Picnics and BBQs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff are social.

Jeff bounded up the steps to Annie’s apartment. He was lugging a grocery bag, per Annie’s request. As he paused before knocking on her door, he wondered again what the hell they were doing. _Friends do this kind of thing. So what if I was originally planning on spending my summer away from everyone?_ _I could learn to be more social. Plus Annie is very, ahem, persuasive._ He took a breath and then knocked.

Annie opened the door, widening her eyes. “Hey there.” She overtly took in the sight of him from head to toe, noting his casual attire of cargo pants and t-shirt. She mock-pouted. “Too bad there’s no suit this time.”

Jeff pulled his sunglasses down and held his gaze steady. “I didn’t really think it was appropriate attire for a picnic. Plus, you’ve had more than enough of my suit already.”

She scoffed. “Jeff! You know I’ll never have enough of you in a suit!” She motioned him into the apartment.

He held back a grin. He stepped inside and took a look at Annie as she walked toward the kitchen, noting her skimpy jean shorts and flip-flops. _Well this was a different look._ He eyed her backside and milky white legs. It hit him in the moment that if he had hidden away for the summer as he originally planned he might never have known casual summer Annie Edison.

From the looks of it, that would have been a terrible shame.

He plopped the bag down on the table as he recalled the last time he was here, a mere three days ago. That had been an interesting visit. Annie had requested that he come over after work so that she could see him all lawyerly, and well, there may have been a little bit of kissing. Just a little. And some mild, very mild groping. But they were careful not to take things too far, as they hadn’t yet negotiated. Much to Jeff’s frustrations, Annie pressed pause again while explaining they needed to have that conversation when they weren’t all ‘worked up.’

Problem was Jeff couldn’t figure out how that would ever happen. Ever since the Tranny Dance they couldn’t stop stealing kisses and ogling each other. If he were watching any other duo he would have been nauseous.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about her lace panties.

Annie started opening the bag. “Thanks so much for picking up this stuff. I’ll just make us some sandwiches and put a basket together.” She began unwrapping a loaf of bread.

“You know I don’t do bread. I picked up some stuff I can eat too.”

Annie frowned. “You can’t just take a sabbatical from your no carb routine? Come on, Jeff, it’s a picnic!”

“I’ve taken enough time away from my no carb rule as it is. And suspiciously those times tend to be when I’m with _you._ ”

She turned her nose up slightly in the air as she held the loaf to her chest. “Well I can’t help it if I’m usually persuasive.”

He smirked. “I’m thinking at this moment we really need to schedule that talk we’ve been planning on having.”

Annie flushed as she clutched the loaf more tightly. She looked down. “Remember, that’s why I suggested we picnic. So that we can be out in, um, _public_. That way we can have a level-headed discussion.”

“But won’t the baby hobbit be present?” He glanced around the room. “Speaking of, where is she?”

“She’s napping. She’ll be up soon. But, as I said before, we can talk in front of her as long as we’re careful what we say…”

Jeff stepped closer, grabbed the loaf, and tossed it on the table. Annie squeaked.

He wrapped his arms around her. “That feels weird. Maybe we should discuss things right now since she’s sleeping.” He began peppering her neck with kisses.

“Um hm….” Annie tilted her head and pressed her mouth to his. They began to kiss slowly.

After a few moments, Annie pulled back, pressing her hand to his chest. “I told you we can’t have this discussion when we’re kissing. We need to have clear heads.”

He sighed and looked at the ceiling. “Then I guess we can’t have that discussion right now.”

“Right.”

“So might as well do this then.” He quickly brought his head back down and pulled her to him. They began kissing more earnestly.

Annie sighed into his mouth. _He’s also very persuasive. Stupid handsome hobo._  

****************************

Jeff discovered having a picnic with Annie Edison was a little bit of a production. Not that he should have been surprised. She tended to put forth the maximum effort in everything she did.

He glanced down at the array of sandwiches, all perfectly cut diagonally. Next to said carb monsters was a small container holding olives (with toothpicks placed in the centers), a bowl full of chips, and a tray of freshly baked oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. _God I’m going to die._

Annie dusted off the picnic blanket as she carefully laid out the buffet. She then coyly reached into the basket and brought out a plate of rolled ham with slices of cheese on the side. “And this is for you, mister.” She gently placed it in front of him.

He was actually touched, dammit. Despite the calorie-loaded cheese, he had to admit she was thoughtful. “Annie, thanks.”

She smiled. “No problem. You can eat olives too, right?”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

He surveyed their surroundings for a moment as he surreptitiously took a cookie and shoved it in his mouth. Annie stifled a laugh.

He remarked as he chewed, “So you said you come here every weekend?”

“Yes, ever since the weather’s gotten nice, I like to take Sophie to see the ducks. If it’s just the two of us I put her in the stroller and we take a walk.”

Jeff remarked sarcastically, “That sounds like fun.”

She huffed. “Hey, it is. My bubbe used to take me here when I was little. I feel it’s something I should do with Sophie. You know, create nice memories for her.”

He glanced at her and winced. “Sorry, right, that’s a really good idea, Annie. I’m sure she’ll remember it.”

“Thanks. I want to give her as normal of a childhood as I can, you know, given the circumstances. Gotta compensate for the sex shop.” She laughed nervously and began fiddling with the blanket.

He grimaced. “Annie, you’re a great mom. I’m actually astounded you do this thing so well. She’s really lucky to have you.”

Annie looked back up at him and blushed.   “Aww… thank you. You’re sweet.”

He frowned as he pulled at some blades of grass. “I am not.”

“Okay. You’re not.”

“Thank you.”

“And you’re definitely not sweet for coming along here with us today.”

He reached over and slid an olive off its toothpick before popping it in his mouth. “You promised me a talk, Annie. How could I refuse?”

She sat up straighter. “And we’ll get to that. But we are also going to have fun, mister.”

“Right.”

“Shirley and I have fun.”

He looked at her in confusion. “Wait… Shirley?”

Annie shrugged as she handed Sophie her bear. “She usually comes here with us, you know, when she can. She brings the boys. We just came here last weekend actually. She’s always in the mood to picnic.”

“I guess I didn’t realize you and Shirley were that close.”

“Of course we are. I told you I forgave her for all that nonsense, and she has kids too, so she understands some stuff the rest of you guys don’t. And once we got through all of her judgmental stuff, we’ve actually had a pretty nice time. She’s even toned down her opinions of me and Vaughn.”

Jeff tensed. “Speaking of…”

“What is it?”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as he played with a blade of grass. “Did you ever picnic here with him?”

“Of course. I told you I come here every weekend.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Like in this very spot?”

She eyed him curiously. “No. I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m considerate.”

He let out a breath. “Thank you.”

Annie rotated her head as she took in the scenery. She sighed as a grin crept across her face. “And it’s such a perfect day. It’s so beautiful.”

Jeff found himself staring at her. For a moment he couldn’t breathe.

Jeff quickly glanced down at Sophie sitting in front of him, sucking on her bear. He paused as he took in the situation. “At risk of offending your perfect day sensibilities, can I ask why she’s dressed like this?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Jeff! She’s adorable. Why don’t you ever think my baby is adorable?”

“Again, I’ve never said such a thing. I’m not talking about her specifically, more what she’s wearing. These sunglasses are too big for her face. And why does she need sunglasses _and_ a sunhat, which again is way too big for her.”

“She needs to be protected from the sun. She’s delicate.”

He scrunched up his face. “Oh please. Here, let me just take off this ridiculous hat.” He carefully removed it and then stared at the massive amount of golden brown hair springing up in all directions. His eyes widened and he whipped off his sunglasses to fully appreciate the scene before them. “Jesus Christ!”

“Jeff! We’ve been over this!”

He looked up at her. “Sorry. What’s going on with her hair now? I thought it was better lately.” He eyed Sophie suspiciously as the baby smiled excitedly at him. _Poor kid has no idea._

“I don’t know. It’s been growing like crazy all of a sudden. Mostly in the back but now it’s also sticking up more on top.”

“But I just saw her a few days ago, and it wasn’t like _this._ ”

She swatted him on the arm. “I’m thinking it might be the humidity. I thought the hat might help honestly. I know you get freaked out if you have to see messy hair.”

“Oh, please, I do not.” He paused as he continued to appraise the situation. _Yup, it was dire._ He raised his eyes to address Annie, a pained expression on his face. “Um…there _has_ to be something that can be done, right?”

She threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t know. I’m thinking of taking her to get her first haircut. Originally I thought it could wait awhile but like I said she’s been getting a lot of hair recently and it’s kind of unruly. And now with summer weather starting, it’s a mess. So maybe if they can snip it down a little or something…”

Jeff was attempting to push the hair back down. It appeared to be just as beastly as ever. “Yes. Do that. I know a good stylist.”

“She’s a baby. I’ll just take her to Cost Cutters.”

Jeff gasped. “ _Cost Cutters!_ No way in… _heck._ I’m making a call.” He whipped out his phone.

“Jeff!” She reached toward it.

He yanked it away. “It’ll be my early birthday present to her!” 

**************************

After settling the Sophie Edison Hair Issue of 2010, Jeff and Annie were able to relax a little. Well, their version of relaxing.

Jeff played on his phone while Annie began to pick up Sophie.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to take her over to the pond. To see the ducks.” Annie placed the hat back on Sophie’s head.

“Okay.” He shrugged as he resumed playing bejeweled.

She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe I’ll get you away from that thing sometime today."

“Hm?” He kept his eyes glued to the screen.

“Nothing.” She smiled as she leaned in to give him a kiss.

“Oh…um…” He mumbled as he began reciprocating her advances. He dropped the phone on the blanket.

Annie pulled away and hesitated a moment before smiling brightly. “Off to the ducks!’ She got up and hauled Sophie over to the pond.

Jeff pouted.

When Annie and Sophie returned from their duck viewing adventure, Jeff motioned for Annie to sit down beside him. He was lying back on the picnic blanket, propping himself up by his lower arms. Sophie busied herself by crawling over and pulling open Jeff’s lower leg cargo pockets.

Jeff decided to ignore that for now. At least she seemed occupied and thus they could devote some attention to negotiations. He turned his head toward Annie. “So can we talk now? Just a little bit?”

“Um, sure.” She stretched out beside him, facing him and leaning her head on her hand.

He took a breath. “It’s okay you know. We don’t have to do anything. We’ve been fairly chaste so far. We can go back to _friends-friends_. It won’t be that difficult.”

Annie frowned as she reached over and began lightly touching his upper arm. “Is that what you want?”

He sighed. “No, but I know you said you needed some time. And I understand that. I don’t want to be a jerk about it. But I also realize you may have had second thoughts. So I just wanted to check in and let you know it’s okay if you do.”

She reddened as she bit her lip. “Not at all. I want to take things further if you still do.”

He lowered his voice to a growl. “I do.”

Her cheeks darkened further as she began to run her hand over his upper chest. “But I’d like us to ease into it is all. You know, just in case this is a stupid idea.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Now you think it might be a stupid idea?”

She shook her head. “Not really. But I was talking to Nancy, and she made some good points.”

His eyes widened. “Wait… you told Nancy?”

“Of course. I tell her most things. She’s my sponsor. I trust her. She’s been right about a lot of things so far.”

He sighed. “Fine. So Nancy thinks this is a stupid idea?”

“She’s ambivalent. She doesn’t know you. And she suggested that we do this slowly. That way if it gets too weird, we can backup and maybe go back to normal if we need to.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

She continued to rub her hand over his chest and glanced up coyly. “So maybe we could ease into it? And then if that feels okay, we figure out how to go about the whole…” She mouthed silently _“Sex_ thing.”

He chuckled. “Fine. I guess we can define _easing into it_. But what do you mean figure out how to go about the whole…” He mouthed silently, _“Sex_ thing?”

She looked down. “I’m just thinking through the logistics…”

“Logistics?”

“I know you don’t like my bedroom. I took down the beads, by the way. I put up some tasteful lavender scarves…”

He shook his head violently. “Nope. I can’t do it. She’s right there. And you even said she’s becoming more aware of things.” He looked over to Sophie and noticed she was attempting to put her bear in one of his lower leg pockets.

Annie stilled her hand. “But she’s sleeping really well lately. If we’re quiet…”

He lowered his voice to an almost whisper and grinned impishly, “But see, I plan on making you scream.”

“Jeff!” She swatted at his chest and then turned away.

He continued grinning as he turned over on his side and reached over to touch her shoulder. He whispered into the back of her neck. “I can’t help it. And I’d hate to have you feel like you needed to hold back. In fact, it might be dangerous to do so.”

She whispered back, “You mean like holding in a sneeze? I’ll explode my brain or something?”

“Jesus, Annie!”

“If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out, mister.”

“Point taken.”

She turned over to face him and cleared her throat as she brought her voice back to normal volume. “Um…. _anyway_ , back to logistics. I guess there’s my couch?”

He uttered in a low voice as he stared into her eyes, “Or my bed.”

She bit her lip. “Um, you have a nice bed from what I recall touring your apartment.”

He began caressing her arm. “It’s king size. With a very high thread count.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It is.” He paused and looked at her intently. “So?”

She looked from side to side and smiled broadly. “I guess I’d just need to arrange a sitter. We’ll need to coordinate schedules…”

He began gently moving his hand through her hair. “And we should probably define the para-somethings.”

“Right. I have some ideas on that.”

“Okay. Shoot.” 

*******************************

Annie reflected on her discussion with Jeff surrounding the para-somethings. She thought as awkward as the talk could have been, it actually went fairly smoothly. She discovered Jeff Winger wasn’t really that hung up on pushing the sex issue, although he clearly made his interest in taking things further known.

They agreed on a number of key points, mainly that they wouldn’t have to be exclusive, no sexual involvement with Britta (Jeff made sure to add for _either party_ although he stated that was up for negotiation before she lightly punched him), they wouldn’t tell the group or other students at Greendale, they wouldn’t tell Jeff’s mother, and most of all they would remain friends. And if one of them started to feel weird about the whole thing they would let the other one know as soon as possible and they’d figure it out.

Because they were friends and friends have to be honest with each other.  

And they sort of defined taking it slow. Annie had proposed a rough timeline of escalating physical exploration with a yet to be determined date for the full deal, but approximately around Sophie’s first birthday in early July. That gave them roughly 5-6 weeks to ease into it as well as for Annie to line up a babysitter. And Annie promised Jeff she was already in the process of weaning Sophie so he might get to explore other _areas_ later in the summer. After she mentioned that fact, she noticed he pretty much agreed to anything else she suggested.

Jeff Winger wasn’t that difficult to figure out. She honestly didn’t know why he tried so hard to hide himself from people. Silly doofus. 

**********************************

About two weeks into summer vacation, everyone in the study group received Evites to a barbeque at Pierce’s mansion. The reason for the gathering was to celebrate Troy’s decision to move in with Pierce.

As Annie predicted, Jeff’s initial impulse was to ignore the whole thing.

“Oh come on, it’s _summer_. I’m not going to spend any of my free time with that racist geezer.”

“Pierce did a nice thing in inviting Troy to come live with him. Troy was having a hard time living with his dad and his dad’s new girlfriend, you know. And plus, I think it’ll be fun.”

“You can’t be serious. We’d be on Pierce’s home turf. God knows how offensive or weird that will be.”

Annie huffed. “Jeff! It’ll be a good way to see everyone. Have you seen anyone in the group besides me and Britta since the Tranny Dance?”

Jeff frowned. “No, actually. But I have been texting with Abed. He keeps saying he needs to interview me.”

“And are you going to do it?”

“No. I’ve been putting him off. He’ll get the message eventually.”

She raised one eyebrow. “I doubt it. This is Abed we’re talking about, remember. If you don’t want to do the interview, you need to be direct with him about it.”

Jeff rolled his eyes.

“Or you could just be a good friend and do it.”

“Whatever.”

“And anyway, Sophie and I can just go to the barbeque without you, mister sourpuss. I already told Troy I was coming. He said he wanted me and Sophie to come. It was really sweet.” She smiled.

“Wait….How often do you talk to Troy?”

“Stop it, Jeff. You don’t need to be jealous. Troy and I are just _platonic_ friends.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Sure. And anyway, Troy said he wanted to talk to me about something, so I’m going. He sounded really excited.”

Jeff sighed. “You know what, you’re right. I should be more social. I’m in.”

Annie clapped her hands and beamed. “Oh yay! It’ll be so much fun for us all to be together again!” 

*************************

Annie and Jeff decided to carpool to Pierce’s mansion. Annie was a little surprised Jeff brought up the idea, especially since he insisted on driving his Lexus.

By way of explanation, he remarked, “You have a baby, and so do I, and I’m not leaving her unattended all day in Dildopolis’ parking lot while Thanos is on vacation.”

Annie explained to him that they would have to go through the trouble of installing Sophie’s car seat, but he was adamant that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Since it would have been easier for Jeff to just drive himself, she began to wonder what was up.

As they arrived she was conscious of the fact he was eyeing her in her light blue sundress. She was glad he appreciated the effort she made in making herself presentable for the occasion. Just as she had _made it known_ earlier how much she appreciated him growing out his facial hair a little bit. And she found he was kinda cute in his cargo pants and sandals. Jeff Winger in casual wear was a sight to behold and she enjoyed getting used to it.

Annie felt her cheeks become hot. She realized if she was going to get through this party successfully without the group catching on, she needed to stop thinking about the kissing. And the touching. And the plan about doing some _other stuff_. She flushed and lugged Sophie out of the Lexus as Shirley pulled up in her van.

“Oh hello An-nie and Jeff-rey! I didn’t know you two were riding together. Oh and sweet little So-phie!” Shirley waved and smiled manically at the baby as she slid open the back door of the van so that Jordan and Elijah could get out.

“Hey Shirley,” Jeff remarked absentmindedly as he grabbed some stuff out of the trunk of the Lexus. _What the hell did Annie put back here? Was this a casserole? When does she have time to make this stuff?_

Shirley cooed at Sophie for a moment and then walked quietly over to stand beside Jeff who had his head inside the trunk as he rummaged around. “I haven’t seen you since the dance. I’m surprised you came. Good for you.”

Jeff jumped. He stood up while he kept sifting through items in the trunk. “Shirley, I don’t want to get into this. Just so you know, Britta and I worked it all out. No hard feelings.”

“I know. She told me. She communicates with me, unlike some people.”

He reached over and grabbed a bag. He eyed Ruthie sticking out of the top. _Yup, definitely not mine._  “Hey, sorry. I’ve just been busy. Contracting work for my old boss.”

She lowered her voice and stared at him sternly. “You could have thanked me you know.”

“For what?”

“For defending you. And the rest of the group. I put Slater in her place.”

Jeff turned to face her and closed his eyes for a moment before slowly opening them. “Shirley, thank you. Really, I had no idea things would get so chaotic after I left. Britta filled me in. I guess I just didn’t want to think about it anymore. The whole thing was bizarre.”

“And yet you apparently talk to An-nie.   Why is that?”

“She wasn’t at the dance. I’ve been trying to compartmentalize.” _She has no idea how true that statement is._

“I see.”

“Shirley....”

“If you come here, I will forgive you.”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

He could feel Shirley’s gleeful grin as she wrapped him in a hug. He may have smiled ever so slightly. 

**************************

Jeff and Shirley wandered over to where the festivities were occurring in the backyard.

“Well this is an interesting place.” Jeff looked up to see a huge house with slightly crumbling steps and pillars. _Of course there are pillars._ He tried to count how many rooms there must be by looking at the windows but quickly gave up after he reached twelve. No wonder Pierce had room for Troy.

“I’m just going to see where the boys ran off to.” Shirley made her way toward the back lawn.

Jeff scanned his surroundings and then spotted Annie and Sophie huddled over in the corner of the back porch with Troy. He gulped as she realized Annie was giggling with wide eyes as Troy whispered something to her while tickling Sophie’s chin.

“Hey Forehead, glad you could make it.”

Jeff turned to see Pierce standing beside him. _What is it with people sneaking up on me today?_ He sighed as he took a good look at Pierce who was wearing an apron and a chef’s hat while clutching a pair of tongs. “Hey Pierce. Thanks for the invite.”

“It’s my pleasure. Troy and I wanted to celebrate becoming roomies. And get the group all together again. It’s been over two weeks.”

“I know. An eternity,” Jeff remarked sardonically.

“I agree a get-together was long overdue. I saw you drove Annie?”

Jeff shifted his eyes behind his sunglasses as he began to make his way to the table. Pierce followed. Jeff placed the casserole-thingy down and dropped Sophie’s snack and toy bag on the ground. He remarked nonchalantly, “Yup.”

Pierce nodded enthusiastically. “Good. Troy told me that she ended things with Vaughn. Thank the master Lotus. I don’t know what I would have done had she shown up with him.”

Jeff frowned. “Oh that’s right. You two had a falling out, right?”

“I’ll say, Jeffrey. He didn’t appreciate my musical talents. I don’t care what Annie said, she wasn’t going to get me to talk to him. And he never made any overtures to me.” Pierce sulked.

“I didn’t realize Annie was trying to get you two to make up. But I guess that makes sense since she seems to like you for some reason.”

Pierce scoffed. “The feeling is mutual. I’m so glad she’s away from that non-talented dirty hippie.”

Jeff paused for a moment while he let what Pierce said sink in. Were they actually in agreement on something?

Pierce puffed out his chest and then let out a long sigh. “Well be good to her, Jeffrey. She’s my favorite. And that little Sophie is a treasure. I wish I could have spent more time with _my_ stepchildren.” He patted Jeff on the back as he walked away.

Jeff paled and called out “Wait…Pierce!”

“Hey jerk face. Long time no see.”

Jeff turned to see that Britta had sidled up to him. She was wearing dark sunglasses, ratted jeans, a Radiohead t-shirt and a vest of some sort. And combat boots.

“Dammit Britta, I need to go talk to Pierce.”

“Since when do you actually want to converse with him?” She motioned with her hand. “Come over here with me and crack open a beer. It’ll make this whole ordeal more bearable.”

“Not now, Britta. I have to deal with something.” Jeff squinted as he walked toward Troy and Annie.

Jeff was stopped in his tracks by Abed who seemed to pop up out of nowhere.

“Hi Jeff! Glad you could make it. Where shall we conduct the interview?”

“Not now, Abed.” Jeff attempted to gently push him aside.

Abed looked at Jeff curiously and then followed his gaze. “Oh, I see. I wasn’t sure if Leonard was right. His eyesight isn’t the best. But it makes sense.”

Jeff turned to him. “What the hell does that mean?”

Abed shrugged. “Leonard said he saw you and Annie sucking face the night of the Tranny Dance.”

Jeff’s eyes widened as the remaining color drained from his face. “Goddamn it Abed!” He lowered his voice, “Come here….” He yanked Abed toward the side of the house. 

***********************

Eventually Jeff was able to find Annie near the buffet table. She was munching on some carrot sticks while holding Sophie with one arm.

Jeff glanced around, realizing no one was within earshot.

“There you are. We need to talk.”

Annie looked up. “Hey, where did you go off to?”

He lowered his voice, “Did you know that Abed _knows_?”

Annie’s raised her eyebrows. “Knows what?”

“About the Tranny Dance.”

She gasped. “You mean…”

He nodded. “Yup. Apparently Leonard saw us.”

“I didn’t see Leonard around.”

“I didn’t either but I wasn’t really paying much attention to anything going on around us.”

Annie blushed. “Um, so what…is Leonard spreading it around?”

“I have no idea. Thank God it’s summer. Hopefully it will all die down before school starts.”

She nodded. “But Abed….”

“I had a chat with him. Turns out he’s mainly interested in gaining information for his characterization in his next film. He swore he wouldn’t tell anyone and that he hasn’t told anyone else. And as far as he knows, there is nothing to tell beyond the one kiss.”

Annie gulped. “Well, good. We can trust Abed.”

“You think?”

“Yes. He’s pretty rule-bound you know. If he promised he wouldn’t tell then he won’t.”

Jeff nodded. “Right.”

“As long as you gave him his interview. You did, right?”

“Of course. I’m not a complete idiot.”

She smiled. “Well then, that’s settled.”

He was about to speak when Britta came strolling up and gave Annie a sideways hug. “Hey there Annie, sorry I got roped into tofu duty.   Apparently Pierce and Troy don’t know how to prepare it. So I was helping them get it ready for the kebabs.”

Annie smiled. “Hi Britta. How are you?”

“Oh, no complaints. Summer break and all. We missed you at the dance. I hope you don’t mind, but Shirley told me about the whole Vaughn situation. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” Britta started playing with Sophie’s hat and making exaggerated fish faces at her.

Annie shrugged one shoulder. “It’s fine, Britta. But thanks.”

Britta smiled. “And you missed out on some dramatics. I know Shirley filled you in.” Britta shot a glance up at Jeff and rolled her eyes. “All due to this pig.”

Jeff glared at her.

Annie shifted Sophie to her other side. “Come on you guys. Let’s just try to have a good time.”

Britta smirked. “Hey pig boy and I worked it all out. We’re cool. I want to go on the record that _I do not love him_. It was all a big misunderstanding.” She looked over to Jeff again. “And I’m telling everyone that. To be absolutely _clear_.”

“Thanks, Britta.” Jeff stared up at the sky. _Why me?_

Britta smiled in satisfaction as she looked back to Annie. “Hey, I can hold her if you want. Let me take her.”

“Oh, um, sure. Thanks.” Annie handed over Sophie.

Britta exclaimed, “Yikes, she’s getting heavy.”

“She’s actually pretty small for her age. She’s only in the 20th percentile.”

“I don’t know what that means but cool. Let’s go find Shirley and get away from these other weirdos.” She shot a glare at Jeff.

“Hey!”

Annie giggled. “Sounds good.” She turned to Jeff. “I guess you’ll just have to hang out with Pierce.”

“Very funny.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Annie and Britta shuffled off toward the lawn. Jeff turned to find Troy by his side. He tensed.

He mumbled, “Why does this keep happening?”

Troy was munching on a beef kebob. “Dude, I don’t know what you mean.”

“Sorry. People just keep sneaking up on me today.”

Troy looked at Jeff and glowered. “Hey, I noticed you came with Annie.”

Jeff looked at him suspiciously. “Yes I did. What of it?”

“Nothing, man. I just thought you were too cool to hang out with any of us this summer.”

“Well obviously that’s not the case. I’m here aren’t I?”

“Yeah. With Annie.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what, you and me should hang out. Since you’re being all social. Let’s play some basketball or something.”

“I’m pretty busy with contract work this summer, I’m not sure if I’ll have time to fit that in.”

“You know what, Jeff? Sometimes you really are a jerk.” 

***********************

Eventually the party winded down. Everyone said goodbye to each other with promises to get together soon. Annie ended up inviting everyone to Sophie’s first birthday party, to be hosted at Shirley’s house in a few weeks.

Jeff and Annie drove back to Dildopolis with a drowsy Sophie in the backseat.

“That was fun, right?” Annie nervously played with her skirt.

“I guess.”

“And nothing dramatic happened. It was all good.”

“I wouldn’t say it was all smooth sailing. There was the Abed thing…”

“But you took care of that.”

“True. And then there was the Troy weirdness…”

“Um, I saw the two of you talking. It seemed kinda tense. But then I heard you guys make plans for basketball?” She looked at him hopefully.

Jeff nodded and sighed wearily. “Yup. Troy and I are on for a game.”

“What were you two talking about?”

“God knows. He has some beef with me but I’m not sure what that’s all about. Maybe playing some ball will help.”

She nodded as she turned to look out the window. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Jeff kept his eyes on the road. “So what were you and Troy talking about? Did it have anything to do with why he’s upset with me?”

She frowned. “I don’t think one has to do with the other. But if you must know, he asked me and Sophie to move into the mansion.”

Jeff sputtered. “He what?!?”

She turned to look at him. “Calm down. Why are you freaking out about that?”

Jeff’s eyes widened as he quickly looked at her and then resumed focusing on his driving. “Are you going to?”

“No, silly.”

“Oh.”

She returned to looking out the window and was silent.

Jeff glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Why did he ask you to move in?”

She sighed. “Because he’s worried about me and Sophie living at Dildopolis. He knows it’s not a great area. And he and Pierce were discussing the situation and thought it’d be best if he approached me since so far Pierce hasn’t been very convincing.”

“Wait…so far?”

Annie sighed more deeply as she turned back to face him. “Yes, you might as well know. Pierce has been after me to move in with him for a few months now. Before that he kept trying to give me money. But I thought it was kinda weird, right? I mean I wasn’t going to just move in with him and I’m not going to just take money from someone when I haven’t earned it.”

“So Troy asking…”

“Pierce thought I’d be more amenable to living with both him _and_ Troy.”

Jeff relaxed slightly and nodded. “I guess that makes sense. And you turned them down?”

“Yes, for the same reasons. I mean it’s sweet of them, but I can’t. I don’t want to rely on people like that. I mean what if something went wrong? Then Sophie and I would be out on the streets. The last time that happened it was just me, but I can’t risk that with Sophie. I just can’t.”

Jeff felt something wrench inside his chest. He wasn’t sure what that was about so he kept driving in silence.

 

 


	3. Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie attains important milestones and Annie and Jeff embark on new activities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you dear readers for following this story and sharing your thoughts, wishes, and enthusiasm. Some of you were very interested in accompanying Sophie on her first haircut, and I promised you I had already written it. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Please pay attention to tags. While this chapter starts off innocently, there will be mild smut. Some of you were also interested in accompanying Jeff on his quest for undergarments. Well, there might be some of that since the possibility has been building in recent chapters.
> 
> Note rating has been changed to M.

“Come on, Annie. We don’t want to be late. Lauren did her best to fit us in.”

Annie huffed as she unbuckled Sophie from her carseat in the back of Jeff’s Lexus. She turned away from the baby slightly so she could speak firmly to him. “I’m going as fast as I can. It’ll just be a sec.”

He moved closer and started to reach across her toward the buckle. “Here, let me help.”

She swatted at his hand and then lightly shoved him out of the car. “I can do it. You’re just getting in the way.”

“Sorry.”

Jeff paced for a moment outside the car as he scanned the salon parking lot. He kicked at a pebble on the ground. Taking a calming breath, he pulled his watch up to his face.

Annie glanced at him over her shoulder and made eye contact. She mouthed silently, “ _You are ridiculous_.”

He frowned.

“I’m just gonna run in and make sure she knows we’re here. I don’t want to lose this spot.”

“Whatever, Jeff.” 

****************************

“Well, well, well, aren’t you just a sweetheart? You are so cute.” The stylist smiled at Sophie as Annie held the baby in her arms.

“Thanks so much, Lauren.” Jeff leaned forward to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, it’s no problem, Jeff. I mean, how could I ever say no to _you_?” Lauren winked at him as she grabbed a book from the check-in desk.

Annie found herself tensing. She wondered how often someone kissed their stylist, even nonchalantly.

She took a good look at Lauren, noticing that the platinum blonde with the bright red lipstick was stunningly attractive. Her haircut was a bit edgy, with razored ends, and she had a nose ring and several piercings in one ear. Annie couldn’t really see her figure since it was hidden behind her black smock, but she could make out some curves. She appeared to have an easy rapport with Jeff.

Annie eyed Jeff curiously as she saw him relax almost completely in this woman’s presence. Gone was the impatient jerk from the parking lot and in his place was suave, laidback, and dare she say, relatively open Jeff. He was even leaning on the counter as he _caressed_ various hair product samples.  _Was he blushing?_

She tried to calm herself as she faced the situation. There were no expectations they would be exclusive, and she was well aware Jeff Winger got around. She told herself she shouldn’t be surprised by any of this. At the same time, she realized Jeff _theoretically_ sleeping with other women was something she could tolerate and push out of her mind but it was a whole other thing to witness him around someone with whom he was obviously intimate.

Annie was conscious of Lauren laughing at something Jeff was saying right now.

She was aware she hadn’t really been listening.

She turned to Lauren and smiled brightly. “It’s great you could schedule us in so quickly. Jeff’s been a little freaked out over this situation.” Annie made a motion toward Sophie’s head. “I’m Annie, by the way. And this is Sophie.”

Lauren returned the smile. “I’m Lauren, nice to meet you. Jeff and I have known each other for ages. I always do my best to work with a loyal client.” She turned her attention more to Sophie and fondled her hair for a moment. “Well her hair is amazing.” She paused as she ran her fingers through it. “Hmmm….”

Jeff gulped as he swiftly looked up from the hair product samples. “What is it?”

Lauren frowned as she began lightly tugging the ends of Sophie’s hair. “You do realize her hair is curly, right? It’s frizzing out because you’ve been combing it down too much, especially in this humidity.”

Annie mouthed a silent “ _oh_ ” as Jeff paled.

Lauren continued calmly as Jeff began to lightly smack himself in the forehead. “You can’t run a regular comb through it. She needs something for curls. I can show you later after we give her a cut.”

Annie nodded as she glanced over at Jeff. Sighing, she directed her words to him. “You know, I’m not the one combing her hair down all the time. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been doing that whenever I leave the room.”

“God, Annie, I am so sorry. If I had only known.” His voice cracked.

She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not like you endangered her life. Cut it out.”

He winced and then turned back to Lauren, looking sheepish. “Speaking of cuts, what do you recommend?”

“We can just fix it up a little, maybe take some off the back and thin out the top? I’m thinking layers. I can show you pictures if you want.”

Annie brightened. “Oh that would be great.”

Jeff butted in…”Yes, we’d love to see some pictures of what you’re thinking.”

Annie glared at him. “I’m perfectly capable of taking a look at the pictures myself and telling Lauren what I like.”

“Come on, Annie, this is my wheelhouse.”

He looked at her almost pleadingly and she was tempted to just allow him to have control over the situation. But no, she couldn’t really let him do that. Then he’d expect it all the time. And it was _her baby’s_ hair.

Lauren stifled a laugh. “He’s not wrong on that one. You two are so cute.”

Annie and Jeff shot a quick look at each other.  Before they could react, Lauren was carrying on. “Let’s bring her over here.” She motioned over to a salon chair with a booster seat.

They followed her, and Lauren pulled up two side chairs. Annie sat down with Sophie. Lauren handed her a book.

“After we decide on a style, I’ll just need at least one of you to help keep her settled while I cut.   Maybe give her a favorite toy and talk to her to keep her comfortable and as still as you can.”

“Not a problem.” Jeff threw the toy bag on the other chair and began to liberate the bear and Ruthie.

After Annie selected a style and they secured Sophie in the booster seat, Lauren got to work. Shortly after the session began, however, Sophie started to cry and they needed to take a break. Annie picked up Sophie and held her on her lap.

Annie was astounded as Jeff made near heroic efforts to calm Sophie down. She had never seen him so animated, attempting to elicit a giggle from Sophie as he engaged in various silly displays with her stuffed animals. _He’s actually really sweet with her._

After Sophie failed to respond well to his attempts at distraction, Jeff appeared slightly panicked.  

“Come on, _please_. You must finish this haircut. You _need_ to.”

“Jeff!”

Annie swatted him away as he attempted to take Sophie away from her. She explained he was only making the situation worse by not letting Sophie cling to her for comfort.

He pursed his lips as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Jeff, please stop pouting. I can only take care of one baby at a time.” She glared at him as she consoled a weeping Sophie.

“I’m not pouting.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Sorry.”

“You know we’ll get this done, right? She’s just scared.” Annie turned her attentions completely on Sophie as she continued, “It’s scary having big metal scissors near your face, isn’t it? But you can trust Lauren, she’s a nice lady. And Mommy’s here for you.”

“But what if she doesn’t stop crying?”

“Jeff, you’re not helping the situation.” 

**********************

“Ta da! Here she is!” Lauren grinned as she turned Sophie’s chair toward Jeff. Annie stood by the side holding Ruthie while doing a little hop of excitement.

Jeff’s eyes shot up from his phone. Annie watched as his face broke out in a wide grin.   “Oh my god. She’s adorable.”

Sophie sat there smiling as she clutched her bear. Jeff noted her hair was perfectly coiffed in a pleasing little spiral-curled bob. He nodded approvingly as he arose to inspect the layers in the back and sides.

Annie eyed him with amusement as she took in the sight of Jeff Winger in his element. She watched him as he gently ran his hand over the top of Sophie’s head.

“Yes!” He fist bumped the air while Sophie babbled excitedly.

Annie turned to Lauren. “I love it. Thank you so much!”

“Oh, it was a pleasure.”

As Sophie continued to make various enthusiastic shrieks directed at Jeff accompanied by lots of _mmmms_ , Jeff grabbed his phone. “Here let me get a picture.”

“Yay! Okay.” Annie clasped her hands together as she leaned down toward Sophie.

He snapped the shot.

“Thanks.”

He shrugged. “Sure. It was a momentous occasion. I had to capture it. I’m still astounded at the transformation.”

Annie narrowed her eyes at him. “She’s still the _same child_.”

He rolled his head from side to side as he plopped himself in the chair next to Sophie. He ran his hand over the top one more time as he stifled a smile. “Hey, I know. I just think now her hair is working for her. We all gotta work it, Annie.”

He raised his head and winked.

Lauren grabbed the stylebook and placed the shears back in her apron pocket. “I’ll be sure to put some locks aside for you. I’ll just go get an envelope.”

As Lauren walked away, Jeff stood up and began packing away Sophie’s things. Annie picked up Sophie and turned to Jeff, “Well, Lauren certainly seems nice. And she did a great job.”

He nodded as he smiled broadly at Sophie. “I told you I only go to the best. Lauren is the best.”

She hesitated a moment but decided to just be direct. “How long have you been seeing her?”

He looked up at the ceiling for a moment and then frowned. “Hmmm…. Well it took me awhile to find the right client-stylist relationship, but I would say about five years.”

“Oh wow.”

“You wouldn’t believe how many other stylists I tried out. Had to have been dozens. It was exhausting. When you find the best you stick with it.”

Annie shrugged one shoulder as she balanced Sophie on her hip. She affected a nonchalant tone. “And see it wasn’t even that big of a deal that I got to meet one of your ladies.”

He paused as he placed a baggie of cheerios in the side pocket of the larger bag. “I’m sorry, my _what_?”

“You know. One of your _ladies._ ”

He frowned for a moment before the realization hit him. He turned and looked at her incredulously. “Oh God, Annie, I don’t see Lauren _socially_.”

Despite her best efforts, Annie felt her cheeks reddening. She gulped, aware her next words would likely sound strained. “Oh, you don’t?”

He eyed her with amusement for a moment and then smirked. “No. Why would you think that?”

Annie looked up at him and bit her lip, her eyes widening. “She’s really pretty. And you _kissed_ her.”

He let out a roaring laugh. “Why wouldn’t I kiss the woman who regularly saves my life?”

Annie rolled her eyes and sighed as he pulled her in for a side hug.

“You’re terrible.”

“I know.” 

*************************

Dorie scrolled through her facebook feed and paused as she came across a picture of Sophie sitting in a salon chair. Annie was leaning in toward the baby while beaming proudly.

Dorie smiled as she talked to herself. “Oh what a cutie. Her first haircut.”

She suddenly took a double take as she realized her son posted the picture. The caption read, “Happy early first birthday, Sophie. May you welcome your second year in style.”

Dorie stared in wonder. She was thinking it might be time to give her son a call. He had been dodging her phone calls again lately. She knew his semester was over anyway. He didn’t have an excuse. 

**************************

Annie sat on her couch carefully painting her toenails. She took a moment to admire her handiwork, noting the bright purple shade. She may have felt a little bit giddy.

There was a knock.

She got up and inched carefully over to the door.

Stepping back as she opened up her apartment, she smiled slyly. “Hi. You’re early.”

Jeff shrugged and leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah, sorry. I got here quicker than I expected. Traffic is light. Is that okay?”

She tilted her head and batted her eyelashes. “Of course, silly. Come on in.”

He watched her gingerly make her way back to the couch as he followed. “Hey, what’s with the walk? Did you hurt yourself?”

“I’m painting my toenails. Since you’re early you get to see some of my beauty routine.” She sat back down and picked up a bottle of polish.

He grabbed Sophie from the playpen as she raised her arms in greeting.   “Hey Shirley Temple. Lookin’ good.”

Annie rolled her eyes.

He settled himself in the chair and eyed Sophie curiously as she gabbed on about something.

“It almost sounds like she’s saying something. But I don’t think those are actual words.”

“They’re not. We still have some work to do.”

He looked back over to Annie. “Soooo….. This is part of your ritual? Is this for me?” He motioned his head toward her toes.

She licked her lips and made eye contact with him before she turned her attentions back to her work. “If you must know, I do this for _me._ You know I like purple.” She paused. “But if it does something for you, that would be good for me to know.”

He felt something catch in his throat. “Oh really?”

She continued to focus on her toes as she shrugged. “I’ve never had a man watch me paint my nails before.”

He let his eyes take in the sight of her in jean shorts and bare feet, noting the smoothness of her legs. “I’ve never watched a woman paint her nails before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” 

************************

After putting Sophie to bed, Annie found herself kissing the handsome hobo as they sat on the couch. She realized it was probably more accurate to say Jeff was on the couch and she was sitting on his lap.

And he was definitely, ahem, holding her. Perhaps fondling was a better description. Definitely her thighs.

“I really like these shorts on you.” He mumbled in between kisses.

“I wore them for you.”

“Hm?”

“I noticed you liked them on our picnic.”

“Um hm.”

Annie allowed herself to take in some air as she felt him move his mouth to her neck. One slight disadvantage of the handsome hobo look was that she was starting to end up with chaffed skin after their make outs.

Nevermind. That’s silly. She could handle that.   _He’s almost too much with the stubble. Too much…_

She gasped as he began sucking on her earlobe.

Annie realized things between them had been escalating recently and was a bit unsure how far things would go this night. Her original physical intimacy chart had been discarded by Jeff two visits ago. Well, ripped to pieces might be a more accurate way to describe it.

_“I can’t believe you made a literal chart.”_

_“What? You know I like to be organized.”_

_“You can’t seriously expect me to read this and not immediately want to do everything that’s listed on here.” Jeff had scanned down the paper again as his eyes almost popped out of his head. “Jesus, Annie.”_

_“I think it’s important to use correct terminology.”_

She supposed it was for the best given that Jeff was clearly too distracted by the document to follow it properly. So they had been making up the rules as they went along. So far this strategy had led to even more fondling, perhaps more than a little grinding, and more than one occasion when Jeff seemed slightly embarrassed by the early results of Annie’s outer pants machinations.

Not that Annie was complaining. She found she was more than a little turned on by the idea she could wield that much power over Jeff Winger. And she found he was quite skilled with his hands as well.

“Hey” she mumbled through kisses as she felt Jeff’s hand move down her bare leg.

“These are very smooth.” He made his way down to her feet. “And your toes, they are pretty sexy.”

She grinned against his mouth. “They are?”

“Absolutely.”

“It’s the purple, isn’t it?”

“That must be it.”

Annie swung leg over to the other side of Jeff so that she was straddling him.

He hesitated, glancing at her breasts.

She smiled coyly at him. “You can touch them very gently. Just cup them, like this.” She guided his hand over her right breast.

He allowed himself a moment to bask in awe at the fact he was palming Annie’s boob. They were as spectacular as he imagined. “Oh wow.”

She laughed at the stupefied look on his face and leaned in for another kiss.

“Can I see them?”

“You get a peek.” She slowly began to unbutton her checkered pink blouse.

She stopped as she reached the midway point and allowed Jeff to take in the sight of her bra.

He was pleased to see her breasts bulging out the top of the cups. He noted her bra was basic black, no lace. He placed both hands on her breasts and savored the moment, kissing her again before starting to reach under her shirt and around to the back in an attempt to unhook her bra.

“I want to keep it on.”

“Okay.”

He moved his hand back and cupped her breasts again caressing them gently. He placed light kisses on the tops of them.

Annie sighed satisfactorily as she reached down to undo his belt.

He shot up an eyebrow as he looked at her. “You sure?”

She looked at him hesitantly. “We should probably remove your pants. They’re a bit constricting, aren’t they?”

He quickly helped her undo his belt and then unzip his jeans. She assisted him in scooting out of his pants and then chucking them on the floor.

She returned to her position straddling his lap and licked her lips. “Your underwear is interesting.” She blushed as she took in the site of his striped boxer briefs. “ Is that a tiger pattern?”

“They’re Paul Smith.”

She felt the fabric. “They’re very soft. One could say luxurious.”

He nodded as he felt his heart speed up. _God she’s perfect._ “It’s a blend.”

“Hm?” She began kissing the side of his neck as she ran her hand over the sides of his briefs.

“Polyester-cotton. 94% cotton.”

“I see.”

He gasped a little and mumbled quickly as his heart continued to race, “Sometimes-I-wear-Hanro-but-the-colors-aren’t-as-bold.”

“Do you save those for more conservative occasions?”

He nodded as he kissed her neck. “I do. I wear them to church.”

She chuckled. “Well _these_ certainly aren’t tame.”

He hesitated and then went for it. “Maybe you could tame my tiger?”

She swatted at him as she reddened. “Jeff! That’s so cheesy.”

He shrugged as he looked at her giddily.

She paused.

And then she shrugged. “Okay.”

He let out a little sound as he bit down on his fist.

Annie began lightly stroking his erection through his boxer briefs. She realized she hadn’t been this close to him before. And she had yet to actually _see_ him. Not that Jeff’s underwear left much to the imagination, especially in his current condition.

He moaned as he closed his eyes. “Annie.”

He grabbed her in for a deep kiss. He then held her hand still as he caught his breath. “Let’s take off those shorts. Fair play and all.”

“Okay. But only after we take off your shirt.”

“First things first, Annie.”

“Jeeeeff, you know I have to see your abs or I’ll just _die_.” She gave him her best Disney eyes.

He smirked. “Now who’s being cheesy.”

“Do you care?” She laughed.

“Hell no.”

He quickly lifted his grey tee shirt off and threw it over the back of the couch. “Done.” He leaned back and allowed her to bask in the glory.

She smiled broadly and took in the sight of his chest.

He thought he heard a squeaking sound come from her lips.

“You’re perfect, Jeff.”

“I know.”

After a few moments, he assisted her in removing her shorts. He tried to see if he could catch a glimpse of her panties. But alas he couldn’t as her shirt was in the way.

He reached for them instead.

And there they were. Lace. _But were they the same ones as the night of the dance? Does she own more than one pair of lace panties?_

Annie moaned, pleased as always that he could quickly locate the right spot. She ground into him as they continued kissing.

He worked his hand against her as he felt her resume massaging his erection. He felt the beads of sweat begin to drip down his forehead.

He mumbled, “I’m visual, Annie. Let me see the rest of you.”

He brought his hand up and began unbuttoning the remainder of her shirt. She stilled her hand over him. “Before you do that, I just have to say something.”

He was panting and more than befuddled. “What is it?”

She looked down quickly and then met his eyes. “I know you’re probably used to really hot women.”

“Annie, you are incredibly hot.”

“Thanks, but um, no. I mean hot _perfect_ women.” She reddened.

“Wait…what?”

“I’m not perfect.”

He sighed. “Annie, what is this about?”

She looked off to the side and laughed nervously, speaking in a hushed tone. “I had a baby. My stomach isn’t the same as it used to be…”

He cut her off. “Come on, Annie. Are you worried about what I’ll think if I see stretch marks?”

Her eyes widened as she brought her gaze back to his. “How did you know?”

He shook his head in exasperation. “Okay, well, if that’s all it is, then _yes_ , I can handle it. Just let me take this off of you.” He started to resume undoing the remaining buttons.

She swatted his hand. “Wait…how do you know about stretch marks?”

He pursed his lips at the interruption. “It’s common knowledge, isn’t it? And look, not that I want to go into any details, especially at this moment, but I’ve seen them before. So please don’t worry about it.”

“Oh. You’re sure?”

He let out a frustrated grunt before grabbing her and flinging her down on the couch. He pushed her legs apart as he leaned over her.

She squealed and smiled up at him.

He brought his mouth to her right cheek and placed a kiss. “Yes.”

She shuddered as she felt his hot breath in her ear.

He began drawing kisses down her neck and to her chest, as he finished unbuttoning her shirt. He moved it open and continued to kiss down her torso, pausing over her abdomen.

Annie bit her lip and looked down at him. “See. I hate them. I’m hoping they’ll fade eventually. I wish you could have seen my body before.”

“You grew a person in there. That’s amazing.” He continued kissing her abdomen as he moved lower.

_Ahh… the lace panties._

He placed a gentle kiss on her underwear. He glanced up. “Were these the same ones you were wearing the night of the dance?”

She thought for a moment. “Um, no.”

“You don’t sound very sure.”

“Let me think.” She paused, “No, these are different. I wore the dark blue ones since they matched my dress.”

He nodded in understanding as he looked at the ones before him.

_Black. Very nice._

He began moving his finger around the hem of the panties. He figured he’d ask her to wear the other ones later. They would be very welcome in his apartment.

She looked down to watch him. “Do you want to help me take them off?”

“Not yet.”

He continued to play around the edges of the panties as Annie squirmed.

“I’m ticklish.”

“Um hum. Not my problem.”

She looked down at him again and was amused to see him looking enthralled. _So that’s a thing for him. Good to know._

He began peppering her inner thighs with kisses and then moved back up to the edges of the panties.

She squirmed. “Oh God.”

He began to pull them down. She raised her hips so she could shimmy out of them.

Jeff tossed them on the floor.

_Oh, poor lace panties. But you served the cause well._

She squeaked.

He looked up at her and held her gaze with a questioning look.

She nodded enthusiastically as she gently placed her hand on his head and pressed it back down.

 _Well then._ He began kissing inside her upper thighs, moving toward her knees and then back up toward the now panty-less region. He paused to take in the view before making his way toward more sensitive areas.

Annie could feel tension rising in her as Jeff kissed and then began licking her in ways she had only been fantasizing up until this point. She had to admit this was better than the dreams she had been having lately after he’d go home post-make out.

“Oh god, Jeeefff.”

She was delighted to discover his mouth could work her in ways his fingers could not. She could feel the heat spreading throughout her body and the sweat drip down her neck.

She gasped.

He eased off for a few moments, trailing kisses down her thighs before resuming his attentions.

She rocked against him as he sped up.

He eased off again. And then he stopped.

_I’m going to kill him._

He looked up at her, making eye contact with her narrowed eyes. He was in the middle of winking and a smirk when she pushed him back down.

“Oookay.” He mumbled.

“Jeeefff… please.”

After some more attentions, Annie felt the heat rising up in her to such a degree that she was starting to lose herself.  She held back any vocalizations, realizing Sophie was in the next room. _He was right. He might actually make me scream._

She instead emphatically uttered, “Um hmm.”

To her delight he sped up.

She felt the initial explosion emanating from her core and then zapping all the way down to her toes. She allowed the subsequent waves of her orgasm wash over her as she shuddered.

Gasping, she exclaimed softly, “Oh god, Jeff. Oh…my legs.”

He brought kisses back up her body and moved to her side, wrapping his arms around her, thereby spooning her.

He mumbled into her neck. “So that was okay?”

She nodded mutely.

“Can you speak?”

She shook her head.

He laughed.

After some moments lying there as she allowed herself to settle down, she turned over to face him.

“Hm?”

She fluttered her eyelashes. “You probably deserve a reward.”

He chuckled. “Annie. You don’t have to….”

She reached down and began rubbing him lower, feeling his erection begin to re-grow.

He moaned as he closed his eyes.

She then reached inside his briefs.

He leaned his head back. “Oh Jesus, Annie.”

“As decadent as these are, I think it’s time you take them off.”

“Of course.”

He shimmied out of briefs and pushed them almost violently down the couch with his feet. He grinned as he moved onto his back so she could move on top and take in the sight of him.

Annie lightly stroked as she appeared to study him.

“So this is him.”

Jeff wiggled his eyebrows. “He’s pleased to more formally meet you.”

“It’s about time.” She smiled impishly as she reached over to grab something out of a drawer in the side table.

He watched her with curiosity and then pleasant surprise as she produced a small bottle of lube.

“Well now…”

She shrugged. “Thought this might help. This time might be more enjoyable than through your clothes. I can do a better job.”

He bit his knuckle again.   “I don’t doubt it. And no complaints by the way.”

He discovered she could put that little bottle to use. She proceeded with a studied and confident manner as she worked her hands on him.

“Anniieee…”

She teased him with some maneuvers interspersed with deep kisses.

He moaned as he pulled her closer, closing his eyes. He felt himself about to lose it.

“Annie.”

And then he did.

After the initial white light dissipated, he became more aware of Annie snuggling up against him and handing him a tissue.

He smiled as he grabbed it.

“Watch my couch.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They spent the next several minutes lying facing each other as Jeff stroked her hair.

Annie smiled. “What?”

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

Annie began to laugh nervously. “Well, that was something.”

“Weird?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. You?”

“I think I’m good.” He grinned.

She began to run her hand over his abs as she took a deep breath. “It’s late. I’d like you to stay.”

He kissed her forehead. “Yeah feels weird to leave.”

She moved closer to him and rested her head on his chest. “And when we _do it_ I’ll have to leave to go get Sophie so you don’t have to worry about me staying over.”

He frowned. “What do you mean worry?”

She shrugged. “You know, the whole do-we-stay-over thing. We don’t have to make a pattern out of anything. We can do whatever we want.”

“Right.”

“Please stay tonight. It’ll be nice.”

“Okay.” 

****************************

Jeff stirred as the early morning sunlight beamed across the bed. For a moment he forgot where he was, slowly opening his eyes. He realized he was alone, a squished pillow by his side as a remnant of Annie. He took a moment to bury his face in it as he inhaled deeply, smelling the aroma of strawberries from her shampoo.

He supposed she had gotten up earlier with Sophie. He wondered how he had slept through it. Usually he was frustratingly aware of Sophie’s cries in the morning.

He yawned and sat up on the bed. He took a moment to stretch his arms and then paused to take in the room in the daylight. He had spent one night in here before but that was New Year’s and it had been fairly dark out in the wintertime. He recalled not having slept very well that night due to being cold coupled with attempting to separate himself from Annie to avoid temptation.

He glanced over to Sophie’s area of the room and eyed the lavender scarves. While he appreciated Annie’s ingenuity he was damned if he was going to ever take her up on that.   As tempting as it was last night to take things a little further or have an encore to the evening’s events, they had behaved themselves in the bed. There may have been some kissing and touching, but that was pretty much it. He put the brakes on anything else and urged them to go to sleep. It just creeped him out that Sophie was technically in the same room no matter how sound a sleeper she was at this point in time.

He reached over and grabbed his t-shirt that he had put on the bedside table the previous evening. As he pulled it over his head his ears caught Annie’s voice coming from the kitchen.

“You are so smart! What a smart little girl you are! Yes you are! Mommy loves you!”

He wondered what that was about.

As he emerged from the bedroom, he heard Annie’s lilting and sing-songy voice.

“Hi Sophie! What else can you say? Can you say hi?”

He popped into the kitchen and spied Annie sitting in front of Sophie’s high chair. Sophie was smiling and banging on her tray excitedly while Annie made exaggerated faces to accompany her words.

He cleared his throat. “Good morning.”

Annie looked up at him and beamed.

“Good morning.”

“What’s going on?”

Annie clapped her hands lightly together. “She did it, Jeff! She said _mama_!”

He laughed as he maneuvered over to the coffee maker. “Well done, munchkin. Thanks for making your mommy happy. She’s been living for this.”

“I have Jeff. And I make no apologies for that.”

He grinned.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Shirley hosts Sophie’s first birthday party. Will everything go smoothly?


	4. Celebrations and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff reveal more than they think as Sophie celebrates her first birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay. The holiday weekend put a damper on my writing progress. :)

Jeff was having mixed feelings regarding his summer “vacation.”

Although initially excited about obtaining some contracting work through his old firm, his spirits had been dampened somewhat by the cold shoulders from former colleagues. He spent his days working mainly from home, with occasional meetings after which Alan would usually ask him out for drinks. He tried this a few times before he was reminded again of how much he hated Alan. He attempted to convince Mark to join them, but to Jeff’s surprise Mark had a new girlfriend with whom he was “besotted” (Alan’s words said with a gagging motion) and therefore, had become “lame.”  All in all, he was left feeling a bit empty when it came to aspects of his former life.

His new life, on the other hand, was full of exasperation.   Although he hadn’t been in any regular contact with Shirley or Britta, he somehow saw the rest of the Greendale crew. He’d stop by weekly to give Ian supplies as he nursed his injuries while plotting revenge on Chang. There was only so much of that Jeff could stomach, however, before he needed to high tail it out of there. And there was a limit to how much basketball he could play with Troy on the weekends, although he had to admit they were getting along better. Troy appeared to have softened his stance toward him, especially after he discovered he could beat Jeff most of the time. It was almost kind of nice to have some _guy_ time without drunken lewdness. But inevitably their games were interrupted by weirdness, usually involving Abed’s attempts to film them for a documentary.  And sometimes Pierce would show up, claiming Troy forgot his bagged lunch. In those moments, Jeff very much wanted to scream.

Not that Jeff was frustrated with his entire Greendale social group. He and Annie were getting along just fine. He’d meet up with her after working from his apartment, and they’d have dinner or sometimes go for a walk with Sophie before moving on to other activities. Occasionally he’d pick her up from her work and they’d make out in his car. On days coming from meetings, he found himself ditching Alan to head to Annie’s, showing off his suit ( _did it every time for her_ ), and then spending quality time with her. And Jeff was very much into spending quality time with Annie Edison.

He realized he was an idiot not to have gone for the arrangement sooner.

He was pleased they had been continuing to take things further. There had been repeats of the pretty spectacular underwear-reveal-and-removal evening as well as some escalations on Annie’s part regarding what she was willing to do for him after removing his Paul Smiths.   He nearly died in anticipation of that moment and it did not disappoint.

The only downside, as far as he could tell, was that the arrangement was at times distracting from his work, as he kept fantasizing over what he was going to do to her next.  

Jeff Winger wasn’t used to a _slow burn_ ; it was almost becoming too much. There continued to be sleepovers, which made the whole situation even more excruciating. He was wondering if he should start chaining his hands down on her bed in order to stop them from roaming. But then he was reminded of other potential activities ( _maybe later_ ), and he was almost a goner.

He was beginning to doubt how much longer they could hold out.

The other day he had come up behind Annie as she stood at the sink. _Oh what the hell, why not?_

He began his seduction with a low growl. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Annie shivered as she felt him begin to kiss the back of her neck.

“Hmmm….”

“What?” Her voice lilting as he turned her around to face him.

“I don’t know how much longer I can _ease into_ things, Annie.” He stared into her eyes, relishing the way he could make her blush.

She looked down for a moment and then raised her eyes to meet his as the corners of her mouth began lifting slowly into a downright seductive smile.

He suddenly pulled her into a kiss, grabbing her hips. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and allowed him to lift her up and place her on the table.

“Um…Jefff.” She uttered between kisses.

“Hm?” He pushed her down on the table and leaned over her.

Laughing, she placed her hand on his chest and pressed him up slightly. “What are you doing?”

He grinned. “I thought it was obvious. I wanna take you right here.”

“Jeff!” She swatted him several times while blushing furiously and then nudged him backward.

He put up his hands in a defensive gesture as he stepped back. “What? We could.”

“We are not doing it on my kitchen table.”

There had then been some discussions of the feasibility of such an act, Annie’s concerns regarding the sturdiness of her table ( _“What if it collapses and we die, Jeff? Who will raise my child?”)_ , and their mutual realization at the lack of cleanliness of said table ( _“You’re right, Sophie’s sticky fingers have been all over it.”)_.

Jeff also had an uncomfortable internal realization that the last time he had sex was with Britta and it was on a table, which slightly tainted the idea for him if he gave it too much thought. He of course was savvy enough not to mention this.

In the end they decided to wait until their appointed “date,” which they had now scheduled for a few days after Sophie’s birthday party.  

Although frustrated at being thwarted in the kitchen, Jeff eventually calmed down. He consoled himself with the realization that they should probably wait until they were someplace more comfortable anyway. Annie Edison deserved to have the high thread count and large bed, he was certain of that much. Others had treated her so crappily. Well maybe not Vaughn, but he couldn’t imagine the hippie was into luxuries. And he was damned if he was going to do something with her that the hippie could have done.

He needed the added room of his king size bed in order to fully show her what he was capable of, and it would be a time she would never forget.

He reminded himself of this when he had her pushed up against the wall and was attempting to map her scattered moles with his tongue as her blouse slid open. This time it wasn’t his fault. She practically attacked him after he came through the door. Through gasps he was able to redirect the activities to the couch. It took every ounce of his self-control, but he found repeating to himself _she’s amazing, she deserves high thread count_ to be an effective method of behavior modification.

He avoided her the whole week around Father’s Day. Mostly because he usually shunned everyone around this holiday. The other reason was because he didn’t want to have an awkward conversation about if Adam was going to see Sophie. Jeff felt a surge of rage the one time Annie mentioned something about Adam cancelling a visit over the summer. He realized he needed to keep himself in check, as he was sure Annie noticed his reaction.

But it was difficult to keep a lid on it. Some memories of being left at a zoo came to mind.

He took another swig of Scotch. 

**********************

Dorie was pleased she was able to convince Annie to bring Sophie over to her house so they could celebrate her birthday. She didn’t have anything elaborate in mind, but she explained to Annie that she and Maybelle wanted to mark the milestone and perhaps shower the baby with some cute gifts.

Dorie’s coup was that she also got her son to attend. Despite him evading her phone calls for a few weeks, she found once she invited Annie and Sophie over, he miraculously returned her calls. To her amusement, he was very apologetic, explaining he had been busy with contracting work. She then politely extended him an invitation.

But she had more than a hunch Annie already told him about it.

After she swept in to grab Sophie from Annie’s arms, Dorie was able to position herself closer to the house in such a way so that she could observe Annie and Jeff as they removed Sophie’s things from the car. She told herself she was not _spying_ per se, more gathering information. She was forced to do this if no one ever told her anything. Even Ian had been close-lipped lately, explaining he was ill and couldn’t get together. What else was she supposed to do?

She watched Annie slow down her movements as she took out a bag and turned to face Jeff. As she began to hand him the bag, Annie reached up to lightly touch the stubble on Jeff’s face. She tilted her head to the side slightly, looking up at him while fluttering her eyelashes. While Dorie couldn’t see his face, she saw Jeff shift his posture as he began to bring his head down while wrapping his arms around Annie’s lower back.

It was at that moment Hank decided to charge into Jeff’s leg.

“Hey there, Hank! It’s good to see you too.” Jeff rolled his eyes as he knelt down to pet the dog under his ears.

Dorie mumbled to Sophie, “Well dear, it’s too bad you can only say one word."

*************************

Annie shuffled through Dorie’s kitchen in her flip-flops, grabbing Sophie’s sippy cup from the counter. She turned to get a pitcher of water from the refrigerator.

“Need some help?” Jeff smirked as he attempted to reach around her body in order to open the fridge.

She swatted at him and whispered, “Stop that! Behave yourself!”

He grinned as he leaned into her and gave her a quick kiss.

Her face turned a deep pink as she moved her eyes back and forth, avoiding his gaze. She turned to open the fridge and removed the pitcher.

“Remember our talk about _discretion_.”

He laughed and then lowered his voice. “I know. Look, my mom is busy trying to coax Sophie into walking. We have a minute.”

She shook her head. “Right. A _minute._ For the things you’re envisioning, I think we’re going to need a little more time than that.”

“Then stop being all sexy cute.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked at him innocently and then turned her attentions to filling up Sophie’s cup.

“Your toenails are purple again.”

She shrugged as she fastened the lid on the cup. “So? I like purple.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “Um hm.”

She handed him the sippy cup. “Would you please give this to her? I’m going to run to the bathroom while I have freedom.”

He sighed and raised his eyes to the ceiling while shifting his weight. “Sure.”

“Thank you.” She smiled softly as she stroked his arm before slowly walking out of the room.

He bit his lip as he watched her go. 

*********************

Dorie eyed Jeff as he knelt down to Sophie’s level and handed her a sippy cup.

“Here you go, my curly-haired hobbit.”

Sophie smiled from her seated position on the floor. She promptly shoved the cup toward her lips before clumsily dropping it. It rolled away from her and she started to cry.

“Shhhh…. It’s right here.” He handed the cup back to her as she continued bawling. Sighing, he picked her up and walked over to sit on the couch.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, holding Sophie to his shoulder as the wailing continued.

Dorie arose from the floor and sat in the chair opposite the couch. “You’re getting pretty good at that, dear. You must be spending more time with her.”

“What? Oh, right.” He breathed a sigh of relief as Sophie began to settle down, clutching at him. He dropped the sippy cup on the couch and reached toward her bag to grab her bear.

“She seems to be calming down.”

“Yup.” He handed her the bear and then picked up the sippy cup, holding it ready. “She’ll want this in a minute once she realizes she’s still thirsty. I swear if I hadn’t seen this a million times I’d not believe it. She forgets she was trying to drink. It’s astounding.”

Dorie let out a soft chuckle. “How much time do you spend with her anyway?”

“Oh, I don’t know.   Here and there.” He looked down as he rubbed his thumb along the lid of the cup.

She squinted slightly and then cleared her throat before uttering her next words. “I saw you were present for her first haircut.”

Jeff nodded slowly as he carefully repositioned Sophie in his lap and moved the cup back over to her. He glanced up at his mother. “Oh right. I noticed you commented on my pic.”

She kept her eyes on him as he looked away.

“That’s a milestone for a child, you know.”

He kept his eyes on Sophie. “It was my birthday present to her. Her hair was a _mess_ and my stylist is really good. That’s the only reason I was there.”

“I see.”

“Mom!”

“You know it was such a shame about Annie and her boyfriend breaking up. I was _astounded_ to hear of it.”

“Mom!”

Both of their attentions turned as Annie entered the room.

“Hey, I heard her crying. Is she okay?”

Jeff looked up at Annie and sighed. “Yup. Just another sippy cup mishap. She’s fine now.”

Sophie turned her head, dropping the cup and bear as she raised her arms and greeted Annie.

Dorie’s eyes widened as she placed a hand near her mouth. “I heard her! You’re right, she does say _mama_.”  

Annie made an exaggerated “ _Hi, Sophie”_ to the baby and then sat down next to Jeff, taking Sophie from his arms.

She smiled giddily as she looked at Dorie. “She’s saying it more and more!”

Jeff leaned back on the couch, draping his arm over the back. He attempted a bored countenance as he glanced around the room. He wondered when his mom repainted the walls. _Wait,_ who _repainted the walls?_

Dorie and Annie continued cooing over Sophie.

“That’s great, dear. Soon she’ll start saying other things, and then she won’t stop.”

Annie laughed. “I can’t wait. She just said _mama_ really suddenly, first thing in the morning, didn’t she, Jeff? It was so cute.”

Jeff whipped his attention back to Annie, speaking quickly, “Yeah, I came over early to help with that _thing_ , right Annie?” He kept his eyes fixed on Annie.

Annie paled and looked down, playing with the toe of Sophie’s sock. “Right.”

Dorie rolled her eyes as she stood.

“You know what? I’m going to go get Maybelle and tell her you’re all here. She’ll be excited.” She turned and walked toward the kitchen while sighing loudly.

Jeff gave Annie a look.

“What?”

He leaned toward her and whispered urgently, “You can’t say things like that. My mom’s nosey. In case you haven’t noticed by now.”

She shrugged. “I’m sorry, okay?” She then narrowed her eyes. “But I notice how quickly you covered. The _thing_?” She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

“Hey, you caught me off guard.”

She shook her head, pausing to give Sophie a kiss. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

He leaned back on the couch and ran his hand through his hair. “You get why we need to be careful, right? She wouldn’t understand. She’d start mailing invitations to our wedding or some such crap.”

“Jeff! Language!”

“Sorry.”

It was at that moment Sophie chose to say her second word. Much to Jeff’s relief, it was not _crap_.

Instead, it was a very sweet “ _Hi”_ directed at him.

Although her initial focus was on Sophie and her newfound word, Annie soon looked for Jeff’s reaction. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him melt. _So Disney eyes aren’t his only weakness._

“Hi!”

“Hi!”

“Hi!”

And on it went, back and forth between Jeff and Sophie until his mother came back with Maybelle, at which point Dorie decided to not say anything at all to her son about his ridiculousness. She figured she’d wait to see how this whole thing played out. 

************************

Shirley busied herself with some last minute preparations for Sophie’s party, checking the timer on the oven while sweeping up the kitchen floor. She was pleased everyone in the study group could make it, knowing it was important to Annie they were all together.

Annie popped her head into the kitchen. “We’re here!”

Shirley looked up, her eyes shining with excitement. “Oh, sweetie! Did the kids let you in? I told them to be on the look out for you.”

Annie smiled as she carried Sophie into the kitchen. “Yes, and they were very polite about it too. You’ll have to let me know some of your tricks so that I can train Sophie in a few years.”

Shirley shuffled over and gave Annie a hug. “And hello there, Sophie.” She paused as she stepped back to admire the baby. “Oh my goodness, her hair looks even more adorable in person! I saw Jeffrey’s picture. Was this really his birthday present to her?” She gave Sophie a few kisses on the cheek as she eyed her hairdo.

Sophie squealed.

Annie nodded and laughed nervously. “Yup. You know how he is about hair. He got his stylist to do it once he found out I was going to take her to Cost Cutters.”

Shirley let out an exaggerated sigh. “Oh my word, sometimes that boy is insane. But that was touchingly sweet of him.”

“Yes, it was. I think he took great pleasure in making Sophie presentable.”

Shirley looked at Sophie for a moment and took a deep breath. “But where was her daddy during all of this? Shouldn’t he have been with you for her first haircut? I remember Andre and I were together for both of the boys’ first cuts.”

Annie cringed and hesitated before she replied, “Shirley, that’s not the type of relationship Adam has with her. It wouldn’t really make sense for him to be there.”

“Wait…what do you mean? She’s his child. He should be there for the important things.” Shirley pursed her lips and looked intently at Annie.

Annie glanced around the kitchen, shifting Sophie in her arms. “Look, I know. I wish things were different. But I can’t just make him want to do those things. I’m just grateful he sees her a little bit.”

“Um hmmm.”

“Shirley, _please_. It’s hard enough without your judgment.”

Shirley shook her head and touched Annie lightly on her arm. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I know it’s not your fault. I’m just disappointed.”

Annie stared into space and closed her eyes for a moment before turning her focus back to Shirley. “So am I.”

Shirley winced as she put her arm around Annie. “It’ll be okay.” She then smiled broadly as she changed the subject speaking quickly and animatedly, “The others will be arriving in about a half hour at the earliest, so I can help you get her settled and maybe we can just go over some last minute stuff. Lacey’s so sorry she couldn’t make it, by the way. Her friend Allie needed her to help her move her stuff out of her boyfriend’s apartment. You wouldn’t believe that situation. Lacey felt she needed to get over there and make sure….”

“Shirley, it’s fine. She explained it to me. I totally understand.”

Annie found herself holding back her relief at Lacey not being able to make the party.   While she would have liked Lacey to be there, she still hadn’t been sure if Lacey had gotten a good look at Jeff the night of the Tranny Dance. And while they could probably explain the situation innocently, it might arouse unnecessary suspicion.

She told herself she and Jeff had a good thing going, whatever it was. They didn’t need the group’s judgments in messing it all up. And as wonderful as their group was, they did have the tendency to become over-involved in each other’s personal lives.

Suddenly both women heard Jeff’s booming voice. “Get off of me! Hey!”

Shirley jumped, placing her hand on her chest. “Is that Jeffrey?”

Annie squeaked in realization. “Oh! I forgot to mention he came with me. He was behind us with Sophie’s things. The boys must have attacked him.”

Shirley wrinkled her brow as she stared at Annie. She opened her mouth for a moment and then closed it.

She spoke her next words slowly as she appeared to be pondering something. “I’m surprised he came with you again. I suppose that was decent of him…”

A crash came from the other room as the boys called out, “Timber!”

“Oh my word. Boys! We talked about this!”  Shirley put her hands on her hips and stormed off toward the living room. 

******************************

Shirley ended up assigning Jeff the duty of minding the boys while she and Annie finished prepping the outside table and decorations.   After being felled like a tree inside, he was not eager to be beat on further. It was not surprising to both Shirley and Annie that Jeff discovered the least involved strategy of playing with Jordan and Elijah. It mostly involved an ongoing bet that the boys couldn’t run around the house ten times. And then repeat ad nauseam. He forked over a quarter each time they proved him wrong as he gently sipped his beer from a lawn chair.

Annie surreptitiously glanced over at him, noting his adorableness in his sunglasses and scruff. She was pleased he had been listening to her and growing out his facial hair more. As she continued to carefully ogle him from afar, she pondered how she could make her appreciation known after the party. Not that they had made definitive plans to hang out, but the way things had been going lately, she figured it was likely. Plus they’d have way too much to gossip about afterward.

Soon the rest of the group began to trickle in until everyone was present.  

“Good to see you, man.” Troy fist bumped Jeff as he plopped down in a lawn chair beside him.

Jeff reached over and handed Troy a beer. “Cheers.”

Annie walked over with Sophie squirming in her arms. Her eyes lit up as she neared. “Hey Troy.”

Troy rose and gave Annie a quick side hug and Sophie a pat on the head. “Hey Sophie. You are just the cutest. Happy birthday.” He then returned to his reclining position, plopping his feet up with a satisfied sigh.

Annie sat down on the edge of Jeff’s chair. She smirked as she glanced back and forth between Jeff and Troy, noting their matching sunglasses and beer.

“You two seem relaxed.”

Troy smiled, continuing his friendly and open demeanor. “Yeah, we’re just chillin’. You know, like guys do. Right, Jeff?”

Jeff inched back a little as Sophie crawled out of Annie’s arms and started to make her way up his leg. He noticed with some annoyance Annie didn’t seem to try to stop her.

He nodded as he transferred his beer to his other hand and high fived Troy. “That’s right. Troy and I are basketball buddies now.”

“Yeah. We do cool things with balls.”

Annie’s eyes widened as she stifled a laugh. “Well, that sounds like fun, Troy.”

“It is. And it turns out Jeff needs to learn more about basketball. He’s not the best at _everything._ ” He chuckled to himself as he leaned his hand out again, paradoxically looking dejected when Jeff didn’t return the gesture from the joke at his expense.

Jeff let out a long sigh as he put his beer in the cup holder and reached down to pull Sophie all the way up to his chest.

At that moment, Britta ambled over, pushing a folding chair so that she could sit smack dab in between Jeff and Troy.

“Hey Annie.” She turned, completely ignoring Troy and Jeff as she eyed Sophie.  “Ooooh…. Hi Sophie! Happy birthday! You’re such a big girl now, aren’t you?”

Sophie stared at Britta, smiling tentatively.

“Oh come here, baby. Come to auntie Britta.” She began to reach toward Sophie but stopped suddenly when she saw the baby flinch.

She frowned. “Or not.”

Sophie’s lip began to quiver.

“Oh god, please don’t cry. Oh no.” Britta turned to look at Annie. “I swear, Annie, I was just trying to be friendly. I’m so sorry.”

Annie shook her head. “It’s okay, Britta. She’s just getting a little fearful of people.   It’s pretty normal at her age. You did great. Please don’t take it personally.”

Britta relaxed slightly as she realized Sophie didn’t appear to be crying, merely watching her skeptically. “But she’s never been afraid of me before.”

“She hasn’t seen you in a few weeks.   It’ll take her a little bit to remember you. But I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Britta narrowed her eyes as she observed Sophie begin to rest her head on Jeff’s shoulder while sucking her thumb. “Hey, she doesn’t seem to be afraid of this jackass.”

Jeff smiled smugly. “You know you can’t use language like that in front of her. Annie can tell you that she’s started talking. Do you want her third word to be something so _foul_ , Britta?”

Britta mouth flew open. “You are such an…”

Annie burst in….”Hey!”

“Sorry.” Britta leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes at Troy, who appeared bemused by the whole interaction.

Jeff directed his comments to Annie. “ _Anyway_ , not being that familiar with birthday parties for babies, what pray tell are the plans for the rest of this occasion?”

Annie smiled as she did a little bounce on the chair. “Well, we’re going to eat soon. Followed by cake, of course.”

“Cake? Annie, you’re not seriously going to feed her cake are you?” He shifted his position as Sophie began to grab at his facial hair. He frowned as he noted her fingers seemed suspiciously sticky.

She scoffed. “Of course I am. She’s never had cake before.”

“So why even start it? Cake’s terrible for you. And she’ll probably just get sick.   I am not dealing with that in the back of my Lexus.” He scowled as he moved Sophie’s fingers away from his lips. _Yes, they were definitely sticky. From what?_

Annie crinkled her eyes at him. “Maybe you could use a piece of cake, Mister Grouch.”

“Oh heck no. And seriously, she doesn’t need cake.” He carefully pulled Sophie’s hand away from his jaw and squinted as he visibly started to inspect her fingers.

“It’s her birthday! Everyone should have cake on their birthday.” Annie placed her hand lightly on his lower leg.

Jeff winced, remembering Annie’s comment about her mom not letting her have birthday cake due to concerns it would make her fat.

“Right. Sorry.” 

*************************

Despite reluctantly getting on board with the concept of Sophie eating _cake_ , Jeff was slightly unnerved to discover Shirley had prepared a small birthday cake solely for Sophie in addition to the larger cake for the group. He wondered if it was even medically safe for a baby the size of Sophie to consume such an amount. Annie noticed him tense and commented nonchalantly that she wasn’t going to allow Sophie to eat the whole thing, merely a few bites.

After the group cheered her on, Sophie dug in with her hands.

Abed snapped a shot with his camera and then gave Annie a thumbs up.

Jeff pressed his sunglasses to his face as he closed his eyes. “Would someone please feed her with a fork or something? Jesus.”

“Jeff! I will! Just let her have this moment, please.”

He shook his head as Britta remarked, “Way to go jerkwad in trying to ruin a kid’s fun at her _first_ birthday party.”

In the background, Jordan, Elijah, and Troy were attempting to cut large pieces of cake for themselves as they redirected their attention from Sophie’s efforts. Pierce stood to the side looking on proudly at Sophie as Shirley and Annie hovered over the baby.

Jeff sighed at Britta. “I’m just saying she’s going to make a mess.”

“Babies make messes.”

“Look, I know that. It’s just…”

And then to Jeff’s utter horror, Sophie shrieked with laughter before she planted her face completely in the cake.

Abed began frantically taking more pictures.

Annie and Shirley assisted Sophie in righting herself as she continued to shriek, grabbing fistfuls of the frosting and stuffing it into her mouth.

“Oh my god.” Jeff gripped the table and took some deep breaths.

Britta laughed as she slapped him on the back. “Hang in there. I’m sure it’s almost over.”

After Annie had carefully fed Sophie a couple bites of cake, she looked at Jeff and nodded. He immediately swept into action, adeptly unfastening Sophie from the high chair, removing her bib, and then hoisting her up. By some feat of magic, he already had a wet wipe and began to wipe her hands followed by her face.

“We’ll be back in a sec.” He walked off with her toward the house.

Annie shook her head and chuckled with Shirley as they scooped up the crumbs and wiped down the high chair and tray.

“Lord, that little girl had the best time!”

Annie turned. “Thanks Abed, for getting the pictures!”

Abed was scrolling through his digital previews. “Oh, they’re gold, Annie. She’s very photogenic. We should probably revisit that discussion of her being involved in my project…”

Annie glared at him. “Not now, Abed.”

Britta, slightly confused, sat staring at the path Jeff and Sophie had taken to the house. Leaning back in her chair with her beer, she kicked the ground with her boot and scrunched up her face in thought.

Shirley began passing around pieces of cake, scolding the boys for cutting such large pieces. Jordan and Elijah’s eyes widened as they looked past her.

“Aunt Lacey!”

Annie’s head snapped up as she saw Shirley’s sister walking toward them.

_Crap._

Lacey enveloped the boys in a hug and then turned to Shirley, “Hey! Turns out I could make it after all! Allie decided to stay put. Whatever. That’s a whole other thing.” She made a dismissive motion with her hand.

Shirley shook her head. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. But yes, at least you can meet everyone in our group!” She turned and made quick introductions.

Annie then gave Lacey a hug. “I’m glad you could make Sophie’s party. You just missed the cake part. She got all messy.”

Lacey laughed. “That’s what they do. Hey, where is she?”

At that moment Jeff and Sophie emerged from the house and began making their way toward the group.

Lacey turned and exclaimed, “Oh there she is!” She paused to take in the sight of Jeff and turned to Annie with eyes wide. “Oh! You guys are back together? That’s wonderful!”

Annie paled and bit her lip. “Ummm…”

Shirley turned to Lacey and furrowed her brow. “What do you mean? Annie and Jeff aren’t together.”

“ _Jeff_? Wait…isn’t that _Vaughn_?”

Annie shook her head and tapped Lacey on the arm. “No, actually that’s _Jeff_ , the remaining member of our study group.”

“But wait…I thought…”

“ _No_ , you must be mistaken.” Annie pursed her lips as she tapped Lacey more firmly.

Obliviously, Lacey continued on, “I don’t get it. He was with you when you picked up Sophie the night of the dance.”

“Whaaaat?!?” Shirley clutched her cross as Britta spit out her beer.

At that moment, Annie wished she could disappear into the earth.


	5. Studies in Group Dynamics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A secret is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update in the same weekend to make up for the delay in posting. Enjoy!

Jeff strolled over to the group with Sophie hoisted in his left arm.

“The birthday princess is once again civilized and presentable.” His smirk turned into a concerned expression as he eyed Annie, who was looking flustered. He paused, glancing around and noticing everyone’s eyes on him.

He spotted Lacey standing next to Annie.   At least he assumed it was Lacey. She looked suspiciously like a younger version of Shirley.

He was also aware she was looking him up and down while humming not very discretely.

He took quick breath before jumping into action, “Hi, I’m Jeff.”   He extended his free hand to Lacey, and she took it.

“Lacey. I’m Shirley’s sister.” She smiled warmly as she lingered on his handshake for a few moments more than was strictly necessary.

“Good to meet you.”

“Um hm.” She let her eyes skim down this body quickly before resuming eye contact.

Although used to such attentions from women, Jeff knew he was missing something. He turned to Annie and began to hand Sophie back to her. “Here you go.”

Annie received Sophie and nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Oh, she looks so clean. Thanks, Jeff.”   She smiled at Sophie. “Now maybe we should let Lacey say hello to you and then we can open presents. What do you think?”

Lacey tickled Sophie’s chin and started to babble at Sophie, pressing her face close as Annie encouraged the interaction.

Shirley, impatient as always, arched one eyebrow as she scanned the group. Jeff made an extra effort to push his sunglasses further up his nose as he casually placed his other hand in his pocket, seemingly sighing with boredom. Shirley spotted Pierce shrugging before attempting to straighten out the tablecloth underneath the main cake as the kids promptly and gleefully turned their attentions to pulling the cake off the table.  Troy was stuffing more cake in his mouth as he looked at Annie and Jeff with intense interest. Abed was not-so-surreptitiously recording everything on his phone. Finally her eyes landed on Britta who looked at her with an expression of surprise.

Shirley cleared her throat loudly. “I’m still a little confused. Annie, why was Jeff with you when you picked up Sophie the night of the dance? I didn’t think the two of you met up.”

Realization hit Jeff as to what he had missed. He gathered Annie hadn’t said much yet. He glanced at her and she looked at him for a moment with steadiness before she turned her attention back to Shirley and Lacey.

She took a deep breath. “I realize it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, but yes, Jeff was with me when I picked up Sophie. I’m sorry Lacey if I gave the impression he was Vaughn. He waited for me in the car and I didn’t introduce you guys because it was late, it had been such a tiring evening, and well, I guess I just didn’t want to get into it.”

Pierce suddenly fell back with a loud moan, landing squarely on his behind in the grass as the kids laughed.

Lacey turned at the interruption for a moment before realizing no one seemed concerned. She looked back at Annie. “Oh. But you could have told me.”

Annie shrugged one shoulder as she balanced Sophie on her hip. “Yeah, I know. I was tired.   And I just wanted to go home.”

Lacey smiled softly. “I get it. It’s okay.”

Shirley exchanged glances with Britta, who was crinkling up her forehead in thought.

“Okay, I can see it was just a misunderstanding. Now I get what you meant by GQ…”

Lacey smirked as she jerked her head toward Jeff. “Yeah, hell you do.” She placed one hand up near her mouth in an attempt to stop her spreading grin.

“But I still don’t understand when you two met up…”

Annie broke in, “We ran into each other outside the dance. I was on my way to meet you, and Jeff was leaving. He filled me in on what happened, and we decided to just get out of there and talk for a while. And then he came with me to get Sophie, you know, cause he gets all weird about me living in such a crappy neighborhood, thinking someone’s going to attack us in the parking lot.” Annie exaggerated an eye roll as she said this last part.

Jeff had to admit he was impressed. Annie’s explanation was not only truthful (while omitting key parts) but it flowed effortlessly out of her. For a moment he was slightly unnerved at how easy it was for her to mislead, but then he quickly refocused on his admiration.

Britta huffed. “So he told you what happened and you just allowed him to flee the scene? Annie, I thought better of you.”

“Hey!”

“What happened to girl solidarity? You mean he actually told you I declared my _love_ for him and you thought it was okay to let him humiliate me?”

Annie pleaded, “Britta, I’m so sorry! I didn’t think of it that way, I swear. He seemed really upset. And I had just broken up with Vaughn….”

Jeff, sensing Annie’s guilt, finally broke in, “Look Britta, Shirley…” He looked around the group, “Audience members….”

Abed gave Jeff a thumbs up as he continued to record.

“Please don’t blame Annie for any of my stupidity. I ran into her outside, and we filled each other in on what we had both been dealing with that night. And yes, we made a decision to leave. In retrospect, was it the best thing to do? Probably not. But was it _understandable_? Yes. For you see Annie just made the very painful and difficult decision to end a committed, serious relationship. And she was looking to the dance as a way to have some fun and distract from her sadness. Upon running into me, she realized the dance would likely not be a place for frivolity. And she had some things to say to me about what I should do about my predicament, but said advice could not be properly acted upon until a less turbulent time.”

Britta scoffed as she walked over and pushed her index finger into his chest. “Oh come on, don’t try to Winger speech your way out of leaving me in the lurch publically.”

“I don’t know, Britta. He makes a lot of sense.” Troy nodded solemnly as he licked his fork.

“Oh come on! Is anyone else buying this?” Britta turned, raised her arms up in the air while flailing them around.

Jeff narrowed his eyes as he crossed his arms. “Britta, I thought we went over this. You said we were cool.”

“That was before I found out she colluded with you in your escape.” She turned to Annie,  “How could you?”

Annie’s mouth began to quiver. “Britta, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

Jeff stepped closer to Annie, placing a hand on her shoulder as he addressed the group. “Now listen. This was not Annie’s fault. She was actually being a good friend. And why? Because Annie is awesome. Annie cares about people. And Annie believes all people should be their best. Annie knew if I were to have gone back into that cafeteria I likely would not have handled the situation very well. So she helped me strategize. And Britta, when we had our talk, you commented on how _mature_ I was being. Well, I want to give Annie credit for that. For you see, Annie’s the one who advised me to talk with you rather than avoid you for the rest of the summer. She explained to me that I needed to be sensitive and consider your feelings. And communicate with you. And so I did. And I did it because Annie Edison is a great friend. She’s a great friend to me, and she’s a great friend to you, Britta.”

Troy walked up and gave Jeff a high five.

Pierce finally struggled to his feet, Abed absentmindedly pulling him up with one hand as he continued to record the proceedings.

Shirley hopped twice as she clapped her hands. “Ooh… that’s nice!”

Britta rolled her eyes as she took a deep breath. “Oh my god. You even convinced me with that Winger speech. I _knew_ you couldn’t be mature. Something was up.” She turned to Annie. “I’m sorry, Annie, really.”

“It’s okay.”

Britta dipped her head slightly. “No it’s not. You turned the pig into a decent human being.   Thank you.”  

Jeff let his hand drop from Annie’s shoulder and stepped back as Britta walked over and wrapped her arms around Annie and Sophie.

Britta whispered, “I love you.”

Annie’s eyes filled with tears. “Awwww… Britta. I love you too.”

Shirley ran over and wrapped her arms around all three of them. “Oooohhh…girls! I love both of you! Let’s not let those idiots ever come between us again!”

Jeff’s eyes grew wide as he watched the women form a ball of hug.

Pierced then shuffled over and placed his arm around him.  

“Perhaps _we_ could hug now, Jeffrey. You know for…” He turned for a moment, “What do you called it A-bed? Potbelly purposes?”

Abed nodded vigorously. “Ooooh parallel purposes…yes.” He paused as he brought his hand to his chin. “No, wait…as much as I like the idea, I don’t think it’s been earned. None of us turned on each other in the past fifteen minutes and then suddenly made up. It wouldn’t make any sense…”

Pierce grabbed Jeff and Abed anyway and began to crush them into an embrace.

“Now I feel left out.” Troy looked down and sulked.

“No one seems to remember I’m here.” Lacey stared at the group in befuddlement for a moment before Troy sidled up to her, bringing down his sunglasses with a wink.

“Oh lord.” Lacey looked up at the sky. 

**********************

The rest of the party proceeded with significantly less drama. The group gathered around the picnic table to watch Annie open a slew of gifts for Sophie.

Annie began awwwing over a purple picture frame from Abed and Troy. “I love it! Thanks, guys.”

“We thought you could put the picture of Sophie eating cake in it,” Troy explained.

“That’s a really great idea.   I think I will!” Annie opened up the flap at the back of the frame as she gently placed it on the table.

Troy added, “Yeah, we had a little disagreement over the best present to get for her first birthday. This guy here,” he gestured toward Abed while smiling affectionately, “thought she needed a camera.”

Annie’s eyes widened as she laughed. “A camera? She’s a baby, Abed.”

Abed shrugged. “I thought it might be useful to strap a camera to her so she could record action from her point of view. It’s a unique perspective, Annie. One not often properly captured. We need to know how she views the situation.”

Troy leaned in toward Abed’s shoulder and sighed. “Yeah, no camera. She’ll just break it. Plus the picture frame was more affordable.”

Abed nodded, eyeing Sophie as she sat next to Annie on Lacey’s lap. “But I still think we can figure something out…”

Lacey looked back and forth between Troy and Abed with confusion.

Seated a distance away from the group, Britta turned to Jeff and commented in an almost whisper, “So I guess there will be no present from you today. Since you apparently paid for Sophie’s first haircut.”

Jeff nodded nonchalantly as he watched Annie mock shake another wrapped gift. “Yup. It needed to be done.”

“Okay.” Britta hesitated for a moment before continuing as she picked at the label on her beer bottle. “You and Annie seem to be pretty close lately.”

“We’ve always been close.”

She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t see you guys hang out as much while she was dating Vaughn. And I know I haven’t been around much this summer with all of my volunteer work at the animal shelter, but I’ve been watching you today with Sophie. You guys are cute.”

“Don’t spread it around.”   He scanned around the lawn from behind his sunglasses.

She frowned. “Don’t be like that.”

“Like what?”

“Douchey. And you’re sitting way back here with me so that no one catches on.”

Jeff frowned as he began to watch Annie unwrap the next gift. “Catches on to what? Seriously, Britta, why do you always have to pick at things?”

“You know what I mean. You wanna run up there and cuddle her.”

“What?”

“You do. And if you weren’t such a coward you would just go ahead and do it.”

Jeff scoffed and made some flippant remark. He didn’t really think through what he was saying, as he was caught up in a question he didn’t dare ask Britta.

***********************

Annie leaned back in a lawn chair while cradling a sleeping Sophie. Jeff came over and sat down on a folding chair.

He spoke in a hushed tone, “Nice spot you found here under this tree.”

“I told you she’s delicate. And it’s sunny today.”

“Why does she have a blanket on her then?”

“She likes the weight of it to help her sleep. Plus there’s a chilly breeze. I don’t want her to get sick.”

He nodded. “So what’s the plan?”

Annie smiled as she watched Sophie. “It’s her naptime but I didn’t want to break up the party. Everyone seems to be having so much fun.”

She looked over to see Elijah and Jordan laughing as they squirted Abed and Troy with a hose.

Jeff pulled Sophie’s pink blanket down slightly so that it covered her toes. “We should probably go and let her sleep in her crib.”

“She’s fine, silly. You just don’t want to be social.”

“That’s ridiculous, Annie.   I’m being social right now, aren’t I? But you’re the only one I really want to talk to and you’re planted over here with the birthday girl.”

Sophie kicked off the blanket from her feet as she shifted her position in Annie’s arms.

Annie rolled her eyes. “Oh it’s been so terrible for you, I’m sure.”

“It’s been a little awkward…” He grimaced as he pulled the blanket over Sophie’s feet again.

“You mean Lacey?” Annie teased.

Jeff shrugged, a blush spreading across his face.

Annie laughed softly. “I’ve been watching. She has a crush on you.”

“Shut up.”

Annie smiled broadly. “She does. And she’s pretty cute.   And FYI, she’s way less judgmental than Shirley. She’s like Shirley at her best only she’s like that most of the time.”

Jeff frowned. “Wait…why did you just say that?”

“Say what?” Annie moved back slightly and adjusted Sophie.

He stared at her while tilting his head to the side, attempting to catch her eye. “It almost seems like you’re trying to sell me on Lacey. I’m not interested.”

She glanced up and shook her head. “Oh please, Jeff. It’s okay. Don’t mind me.”

He continued looking at her. “Annie. I’m serious.”

She shrugged.

“I’m not going to pursue her.”

“Jeff.” She said softly as she looked over at Britta shouting something at Pierce while pushing on his chest.

“And I can’t believe you’d think that I would. Come on.”

She turned her attention back to him and held her gaze steady. “Our arrangement clearly stipulates it’s okay.”

He pursed his lips as he leaned forward to grip the arm of her chair. “I know. But I’m not going to just go pick up a woman in front of you. Give me some credit.”

Annie sighed.   “It’s fine. She’s nice.”

“Cut it out.”

She noticed the edge in his voice.

She continued on with a disinterested tone. “Well she is. And she’s not a part of our group. I know I said no Britta and I didn’t think I needed to stipulate no Shirley but that’s because I know she drives you crazy. But technically Lacey would be fine.”

Jeff ran one of his hands over his scruff as he let out a long sigh.

“Annie, you know damn well I’m not sleeping with any other…”

“Oooohh…An-nie! She’s so precious.” Shirley took that exact moment to plop down in a lawn chair.

Annie looked at Jeff in surprise before quickly turning away and smiling brightly at Shirley. “Yes, she’s conked out. It’s been quite the day. Thanks again for hosting.”

Shirley gave Annie and Jeff a suspicious look as she noticed Jeff’s posture leaning in toward Annie’s chair as he continued to grip the arm.

“Oh honey, you know it was no big deal. She deserves to have a birthday party. And it was nice excuse to get the whole gang together. Even Pierce is behaving himself.”

Annie laughed softly. “Come on Shirley, I overheard him say something about you being a _mouth watery chocolate_.” She opened up her mouth in a wide “O.”

Shirley bristled. “Yeah, well, it’s saying something that I don’t think he’s being that bad today. Plus I was able to push him off on Britta. Lord that girl is going to hate me but it’s worth it.”

“I see how quickly female solidarity falls part.” Jeff remarked caustically as he lightly punched the arm of Annie’s chair.

Shirley’s eyes shot up and she stared at him. “Did I interrupt something? You two looked like you were talking about something serious….”

“Then why in _hell_ did you interrupt?”

“Jeffrey!”

“Jeff!” 

*************************

Although they did their best to pretend everything was fine between them in front of the group, Annie and Jeff both felt the tension.

They drove back to Annie’s place in silence.

After she put Sophie down, Annie walked back into the living room and joined Jeff on the couch as he flipped through the television channels.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Sooo…” Annie looked over at him and opened her eyes wide.

He sighed as he struggled to suppress a smile. “Goddamn it. Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Don’t flutter them. And please, for the love of God, do not start the tears.”

“Why would I do that?”

He slumped forward slightly as he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, okay. I was just being grumpy.”

She smiled as she touched his arm. “It’s okay, silly.”

He sighed as he opened his eyes and stared at the television. “Nothing’s on…dammit Annie, these channels…”

“Jeff….” She placed her hand lightly over his as he held the remote.

“Hm?”

“About what you said…”

He tensed. “Yeah, whatever. We don’t need to talk about it.”

Annie bit her lip as she frowned in thought for a moment before she continued, “We set up things the way we did for a reason. I know I probably sounded jealous earlier, and okay, you’re right, maybe I don’t really want to see you get with some woman right in front of me. But really, I think for _this_ to work you can’t just stop…”

“Annie!”

“What?”

“It doesn’t need to be dissected. Let’s agree to forget about it.”

She nodded as she let out a sigh of relief. “Okay.”

He stopped flipping through channels, letting the television rest on a benign sitcom. “You’re pretty good on your feet, you know. I wanted to tell you I was impressed with the way you handled that whole Tranny Dance situation. I almost believed you that those were the only events that occurred that night.”

Annie leaned into his shoulder. “Yeah, well, I got pretty good at telling stories when I had my drug problem. But this time at least I was telling the truth, you know, mostly.”

Jeff sighed. “You did good.”

She glanced up at him as she kept her head on his shoulder. “And your Winger speech was great. Thank you for saying those nice things about me.”

He smiled. “Oh that? That was easy. You _are_ a great friend.”

“So are you.”

Annie rubbed Jeff’s hand it as they both stared at the television in silence.

 


	6. Exploration of Benefits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff take their relationship to the next level

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, it’s a long chapter. Couldn’t figure out how to divide this up since it all goes together. Forgive me?
> 
> Please note this chapter contains mild smut. And dinner.

“Can I take you to dinner?”

Annie stared at Jeff for a moment as she collected her bearings. She then inhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

“Jeeffff…”

“Come on, let’s make it a night out on the town.”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him while he hovered over her, her legs wrapped around his back as he ground into her, fully clothed. She widened her eyes as the corners of her mouth slowly formed a small smile.

“You mean like a date?” She was aware she was a bit distracted. _Stupid handsome hobo could really pick his moments._

“Sure.” He began running his tongue up her neck as he slipped his hand under her skirt.

“Jeeefffff…. Oh God.” Her body jerked.

A pillow flew off the couch, crashing into Sophie’s new red plastic scooter.

She placed a hand on his chest and pushed him up slightly. “Jeff!”

“Yes?” He smirked and looked at her with his sexy gaze. _Jerk._

“I thought we agreed we weren’t _dating._ ” She became aware of a knot beginning to form in her stomach, with flashes of how it all went wrong with Vaughn after she agreed to be his stupid girlfriend. _Despite what you thought for eighteen years, labels are not always your friend, Edison._

Jeff bit his lip and sighed, closing his eyes. “Oh come on, Annie. I’ve taken women to dinner before, you know. And what, just because we aren’t _dating_ does that mean I’m not supposed to take you to dinner? You’re much better company than any of my _dates_ ever are anyway.”  

She relaxed a little as she began to run her fingers through his hair, disrupting his carefully constructed bed head look. She figured he wouldn’t mind. “That’s true. I am.”

He laughed as he resumed eye contact. “And as I’ve said before, _modest_ , which is one thing I really like about you.”

“Um hum.” She nodded, smiling at him mischievously. _God he’s such a flirt. He probably just wants to show off._

“So?”

“Just don’t propose to me, Jeff.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“I dunno…”

He began to focus on the side of her neck, pausing to speak in between kisses. “And if we’re going to do what at least I _hope_ we’re going to do on Saturday, then I think we should make a night out of it. You already got the babysitter….”

Annie moved her head to the side as she gasped. “Nancy says she can only watch Sophie until 12:30. We can’t make a _whole night_ out of it.”

“I know, but if we drop her off before six….” He continued to place soft kisses, moving down to her collarbone as he began to unbutton her blouse.

She shivered as his mouth moved toward her breast. “Nancy’s coming _here_ so we don’t have to disrupt Sophie’s routine too much. And I plan to put her to bed so she doesn’t get scared knowing I’m leaving her at night.”

“Annieee….” He stopped and looked up at her.

She tilted her head, pools of Disney princesses past dancing in her eyes. “You don’t want my baby to be scared, do you? You wouldn’t do that to her.”

_Dammit. Using the curly haired hobbit and her sad little eyes to make me feel something._

Jeff grunted. “Fine.”

“So we can leave maybe around 7:30? Then we have like five hours…”

Jeff let out a long sigh. “Okay.   But let’s go someplace nice first. Not a long four course dinner, mind you, but something kinda fancy. And then we’ll go back to my place.”

“I still don’t know…” _What does dinner mean?_

“We have to eat anyway. And we’ve never gone out anywhere together that didn’t have a high chair involved. And usually it’s Denny’s. This will be grown-up time.”

Annie froze for a moment as various thoughts raced through her mind. _Don’t ask. If you don’t talk about it there is nothing to talk about. Stupid hobo can’t hurt you, Edison._

She ventured out one thought, “But I can’t afford…”

“I said let me take you to dinner. It’s my treat. Ted’s been paying me well this summer.” _God what is her problem? Did she seriously think I expect her to pay? What dirtbags does she normally hang out with?_

Annie bit her lip as she attempted to reassure herself. _Good. He’s just showing off his lawyer pay. This will be okay._

She gulped as she asked, “Are you sure?”

He licked his lips before moving in to place a kiss under her left ear. He then moved his head back to look at her. “Yup. And it’ll be fun. I’ll even wear a suit.”

A smile began spreading across Annie’s face. “Really?”

He laughed as he stared at her. “Oh that got you. Yes, most definitely I will wear a suit.”

She grinned as she nodded giddily. “Okay you sold me.”

“Excellent.”

He moved back in and began kissing her deeply, his hand once again reaching underneath her skirt. 

**********************

“So anyway, I think that about covers it. She’s all tired out from her adventures today cruising around the furniture. I think she’s really close to walking on her own!”

“Oh that’s awesome!” Nancy looked fondly over at Sophie in Annie’s arms.

Annie nodded excitedly, turning to look at Sophie who was resting her head on her shoulder while clutching her bear. “She’s been doing it a little bit here and there but today was her best effort yet. I like to praise her effort, you know, rather than her achievement.”

Nancy stifled a laugh. “Okay, I’ll remember that too. But since it’s almost her bedtime I’m guessing I won’t need to think too much about appropriate praise for her tonight.”

“Thanks again.” Annie walked over to the playpen and carefully sat Sophie down in it.

“Oh it’s fine. You know that.” Nancy paused and looked at Annie, “I guess then tonight’s the night?”

Annie reddened as she flung herself down on the on the couch. “Yeah. I can’t believe I told you all about it. Oh god.” She turned over and buried her face in the cushion.

Nancy squeezed herself in next to Annie’s feet, nudging her over a little. “Hey, I trust you. If you think this makes sense, then go for it.”

“Yeah, I do.” Annie mumbled as she flipped over. She scooted back to a sitting position and curled up her legs.

“And at least you two have been testing the waters. And you said it hasn’t gotten weird or anything, so…”

Annie let out a long sigh and moved her head back to stare at the ceiling. “It’s been really nice, actually.”

Nancy leaned into the back of the couch with one arm, propping her the side of her face in her hand as she continued to look at Annie. She hesitated before remarking, “And yet you don’t want to _date_ him.”

“Right.” Annie reached to pick up Ruthie from the coffee table and started to play with the kangaroo’s ears.

“And yet you’re going on a _date_.”

Annie continued to regard the kangaroo as she blushed. “Stop it. We’ve been over this. Yes, while technically one might consider it a _date_ , that doesn’t mean we are _dating_.”

“You do realize you already _are_ dating him, right?”

Annie scoffed as her eyes widened. “Oh come on! Why do you have to say that to me right _now_? I’m nervous enough as it is.”

Nancy smirked. “And why pray tell be nervous if it’s _casual_?”

Annie mumbled, “Because-I-like-him.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?”

Annie glanced up from her fidgeting. “Don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who actually encouraged me not to jump into another serious relationship. Which is exactly what I’m trying not to do here. I thought you’d be more supportive.”

Nancy laughed. “I _am_ supportive, Annie. And I don’t think you’d be jumping in to anything. You originally came to me with this whole thing the day after you broke up with Vaughn. I was just encouraging you to slow things down, which you did. And like I’ve been saying these past few weeks, this seems different. You seem really happy.”

Annie shrugged. “I guess. But I don’t want to make a big deal of it or anything. I still want to give him permission to see other women.”

Nancy sighed. “Right. Because then he won’t hurt you, is that it?”

Annie nodded slowly. “Um hum. Being cheated on sucks. If he has permission, then it’s not cheating.”

“Is he even seeing other women?”

Annie shrugged again. “He said something that made me think he’s not. But look, it’s only a matter of time before he _does_. He pretty much told me that’s how he’s wired anyway.   And if a guy tells you that, it’s stupid to ignore it.”

“Maybe you guys should talk about this some more.”

“Fine, I’ll consider it. But I just want to have a nice time tonight, okay?”

Nancy smiled softly. “Okay.” 

**************************

After assuring Thanos he and Annie were leaving shortly and therefore would not be in need of his services, Jeff alit the steps and made the trek down the hallway to the apartment. He realized he was rocking one of his better suit looks, light grey with a blue shirt that made his eyes pop. He opted to forgo a tie, figuring he’d go for the not-quite-formal look. He had that style down well. And his hair was looking particularly awesome tonight.

He was very much looking forward to showing Annie a good time. He realized it had been a risk in asking her to dinner and was not surprised at her initial hesitance, given their conversations about not _dating_. But he told himself he wanted to do this right. In thinking about going back to his apartment for the big event, it just seemed a little tacky by itself considering he actually _liked_ her. And he was well aware by now that no man had ever taken her on a proper date. Sure, the hippie went places with her but given his no shirt/no shoes tendencies, Jeff doubted there was ever a fancy dinner involved.

He was determined to blow the hippie out of the water. He may have hopped a little as he moved toward the door.

He knocked. Annie opened the door, beaming.   They took a moment to regard one another. Jeff noticed Annie was wearing the same dress she wore the night of the Tranny Dance. He almost let out a yelp, remembering his request that she wear the dark blue lace panties. She had readily agreed and for some reason didn’t seem surprised he asked. He supposed she decided to wear the whole ensemble again.

It was a bit of a tortuous wait as Annie said goodbye to Nancy and took a seemingly deliberate slow time in putting on her high heels, bending over just so. He bit his knuckle for a moment before he distracted himself by looking out the window. They bid their goodbyes, with Jeff noticing Nancy seemed to find the situation amusing. But he figured at least she was friendly to him about the whole thing, even detecting a teasing tone in her voice when she warned him to bring Annie back by her curfew. 

***************************

“So, this is the fancy restaurant you’ve been talking about, huh?”   Annie grinned slyly as she rotated her head to take in the sights of the dining room at the Italian bistro.

“Yup.” He waved the waitstaff away as he moved out her chair, motioning for her to seat.

Annie blushed as she accepted. “So you’ve been here before?”

“Yup.” He settled himself into the chair opposite her.

“How many of your _ladies_ have you brought here?”

He frowned and took a deep breath. “Cut it out, Annie. Can we please not do that whole thing tonight?”

She looked down for a beat before looking back at him with a soft smile. “I’m sorry, Jeff. I’ll stop.”

“Thank you.” He cleared his throat before continuing, “But if you must know, I’ve actually come here with clients. I’ve never brought a _lady_ here before. Well not until tonight.” He winked at her.

She blushed as she smiled broadly. “Oh, you’re on fire, Mister. Keep it coming. I want to be wooed.”

“And wooed you shall be.” He gave her a slight bow of his head.

Annie did a not-so-subtle bounce in her seat.

She watched Jeff with amusement as he regarded the menu. She noted he seemed pleased with himself as he related to her the best dishes and discussed potential wine pairings. She was sure he had put a lot of thought into this evening. Just as she was pretty sure he chose that particular color shirt because it really set off his eyes.

He knew exactly what he was doing. And she was loving it. Sophisticated Jeff Winger on his game, showing off for Annie Edison….

Annie suddenly had a sinking feeling.

She quickly broke into his wine musings, “Jeff, maybe we shouldn’t have wine…”

He continued to peruse the wine list without looking up. “We’re ordering wine, Annie.”

She reached over and touched his hand. “That might not be a good idea…”

He paled as his eyes met hers. “Oh, can you not drink anything? I thought we talked about this. You said you were weaning Sophie…”

She shook her head. “I am. And that’s not the issue. Having a drink right now will be fine since I’m not going to nurse her tonight. It’s just that I thought maybe it’d be awkward for you to order wine.”

“Awkward?”

She lowered her voice, “Since I’m _nineteen_.”

He sighed as he rolled his eyes. “They won’t card you.”

She continued to whisper, “No, Jeff, I mean, I guess this whole situation points out that I’m technically still a _teenager_. At least for a few more months.”

“So?” His eyes gleamed with amusement as he wrapped his hand around hers.

Annie startled at his gesture. She glanced at their hands intertwined on top of the table. She brought her voice up to a normal yet soft volume, “You made that into such a big deal earlier this year, and we haven’t talked about it….”

He raised his eyebrows while keeping his mouth in a firm line. “You said you didn’t care. Should I?”

“I don’t. But you said it bothered you…”

He closed his eyes for a moment before regarding her. “Look, Annie, I’ve done a lot of thinking. Okay, is it something I really like to think too much about? No. But really, you’re like 30. Especially when you’re in mom mode. I forget. And honestly, if you acted like a 19 year old I wouldn’t be da… _seeing_ you.”

Both Jeff and Annie’s eyes widened for a moment before Jeff cleared his throat. He slowly pulled back his hand from hers and gripped the wine list.

He lowered his gaze to take in the selection. “So let’s see here…. How do you feel about a medium dry red?”

Annie reached over and lightly touched his arm. She remarked in a lighter tone, “Jeff, what were you like at 19?”

He chuckled as he glanced up. “Oh you would have _hated_ me.”

“I doubt it.”

“No, you would have. I was even more of an idiot. Thank God you met me now.” 

**************************

Jeff found having a dinner date with Annie was not that different than hanging out with her.   The conversation flowed freely, what with gossiping about their mutual friends, relating their respective summer employment tales of woe, and discussing Sophie’s latest achievements. There may have been more than a little dissection of Ian Duncan’s faux illness with speculation on the form his revenge would take on Chang in the fall as well as Jeff’s continued preoccupation with who had painted the walls of his mother’s living room. Of course they had eaten dinner together many times in the past, but never without Sophie present, and as much as Jeff was used to the baby hobbit by now he had to admit it was nice to focus his attention on Annie without the distraction of a banging tray or something being hurled at his head.

“Jeff Winger?”

Jeff’s eyes shot up as he saw Mitchell Higgins, one of the firm’s up and coming attorneys, approach their table with a blonde on his arm. Mitchell was an attractive alpha male type, about Jeff’s age, dressed smartly in an Armani suit, crisp shirt and tie.

“Mitchell.” Jeff started to rise before he was motioned to remain seated by the lawyer.   They instead shook hands.

Mitchell turned to his date, “Barb, this is Jeff Winger, one of my former, or shall I say current, colleagues. He’s doing some work for us this summer. Jeff, this is my friend Barb.”

Jeff shook Barb’s extended hand as she giggled. He smiled politely with a nod.

Jeff turned to Annie. “Annie, this is Mitchell Higgins, he also works at the firm. He’s a rising star as a matter of fact. Mitchell, this is Annie.”

Mitchell flashed a blindingly white smile as he regarded Annie with intense interest.

Annie smiled sweetly as she shook Mitchell’s offered hand. She was aware he was looking at her cleavage as his girlfriend scanned the room with a bored stare.

Annie looked over at Barb and did a little wave, “Hi, I’m Annie. It’s nice to meet you, Barb.”

The blonde turned to look at her and smiled and nodded slightly as she yanked on her boyfriend’s arm. “We have to get to our reservation…”

Mitchell continued to stare at Annie, letting his eyes move up and down her, taking in the side view of her seated at the table. “Yeah, sure, babe. Just a minute. Hey, Ann, did Jeff tell you about all the absolutely important work he’s doing for the firm? Well, maybe not that important. More paralegal stuff. But that’s only because his star crashed and burned after we all found out he _faked his bachelors degree_.” He smirked as he finally made eye contact with her.

Annie quickly turned on her trademark megawatt smile, “Actually, my name is Annie. And I couldn’t be more proud of Jeff in continuing to show the firm such loyalty. It’s so very nice to meet you. Maybe you’d both like to join us?”

Jeff almost choked on his wine.

The color drained out of Mitchell’s face as he seemed genuinely befuddled. “Err…um….what?”

Annie continued on nonchalantly, waving a hand in the air. “Oh, please, I insist. Barb, please just come over here and have a seat. You can take my chair and we can get the waiter to bring us over two extra…”

Jeff couldn’t help watching Annie with intense admiration.

Mitchell motioned for her to sit down as Annie started to rise. Barb stared in confusion.

“Um, no thank you. We have a table waiting for us.” He turned to Jeff. “Uh, good to see you. Have a good evening.”

“Thanks, you too.”

Mitchell and Barb quickly walked toward their table.

“Annie!”

“Oh you loved it!” 

*****************************

Annie looked up from her dessert as Jeff relayed to her some story about Ted’s office. She watched him for a moment, realizing he had begun to speak more quickly as he mentioned Ted and the infamous _Alan_ again.

She waited for an appropriate pause before she broke in.

“Sometimes I think about what it must have been like for you to work for Ted fulltime, when you were a fancy lawyer guy.”

He scanned the room. “It was awesome, Annie. I always had something interesting to work on, they paid me gobs of money….”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Sometimes I think how stressful it must have been to hide yourself from everyone all the time.”

“Annie….”

She shrugged, taking a sip of her wine. “I can relate, you know. I’ve spent most of my life living for other people, pretending I was someone else, being Ms Perfect. And it was terrifying when it all came crashing down.”

Jeff closed his eyes for a moment and winced.

She continued, “And despite how awful things turned out for me in many ways, I guess it’s a relief, you know, not having to pretend anymore. I can just be me, whoever she is.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She looked at him intently. “You don’t have to hide from people, anymore. You faked your degree. So what?”

He opened his eyes and stared at her with an unreadable expression.

She continued, “And you seem to be spending a lot of energy right now in trying to make people at your firm like you again. But you know that’s kind of silly, Jeff. You don’t want them to like you for something you’re not. And if they don’t like you for who you are then they aren’t worth having in your life. That’s why I’m not trying to win my mom’s approval anymore.”

“Sure, Annie. But impressions matter.”

“It’s okay, I know you and I still like you. And that’s all you need. That’s the Edison guarantee.“ She winked at him.

Jeff gulped on his wine before he found himself letting out a hearty laugh. 

****************************

Jeff unlocked his apartment, flipping on a light switch and opening the door wide so that Annie could enter ahead of him.

Annie stepped inside, taking a long look around. She noticed the hardwood floors were sparkling and the carpet in the living room freshly vacuumed. As she walked casually toward the open kitchen, she spied a couple bottles of McClelland’s on the counter.

She stiffened for a moment before deciding to ignore it as she always did. _He doesn’t have a problem, does he? I would know, right?_ She paused to tap her clutch purse on the counter.

Jeff eyed her with curiosity. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I was just taking a look around.” She smiled nervously as she stepped toward the living room, placing her clutch on the side table.

“Your place looks extra tidy. Did you clean up for me?”

“Nah.” He frowned as he closed the door and threw his keys on a small table.

“Okay.” She smirked as she began to slip off her heels. “Ugh. I need to take these off. My feet hurt.”

He nodded. “Well, of course they do, they’re like four inches or something. Wearing them you’re almost regular-sized.”

She waved him off as she placed her shoes carefully near the wall. “Oh shut up, silly. I am a perfectly normal-sized person. You’re just a giant.”

“Sure.” He exaggerated a look down to her as she stood in her bare feet.

Annie rolled her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips. “Oh come on. Now I’m not wearing _anything_ on my feet. It’s not fair. You’re still wearing your shoes.”

He smirked as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a kiss. After a moment, he stopped and remarked, “Then we should do something about that. Maybe we both need to make sure we have the same amount of clothing removed.”

She reddened, smiling shyly. “We’re really going to do this, right?”

“If you still want to. We don’t have to.”

“I know.”

“We can just hang out. We can do it some other time if you want. We could just makeout too. Whatever.”

She looked up at him, biting her lip. “No, um… I want to do this, Jeff. I kinda think we need to…”

He raised his eyebrows. “Really? We _need_ to?”

She began to fiddle with his jacket lapel, tilting her head to the side as she fluttered her eyelashes. “We stopped things the night of the Tranny Dance, and yet here I am wearing my outfit. The _same_ outfit. I wore the _same everything_ , Jeff. We could pick up where we left off that night…”

He gulped. “ _Same everything_?”

She nodded and laughed as he grabbed her in a passionate kiss. 

******************************

After some intense kissing and mild groping on Jeff’s couch, they eventually made their way to the bedroom. _Made their way_ involved Jeff picking Annie up, her arms wrapped around his neck and legs entangled around his body.

Jeff placed her gently down on the bed, arranging himself so that he was hovering over her.

Annie scooted until she was near the pillows. She began to caress the bed linens while smiling coyly at him.

“Oooh…your duvet is very soft. Almost as luxurious as your Paul Smiths.”

He smirked, pausing to place a kiss on her collarbone. “But of course. Only the best. Wait until we get to the sheets.”

“I can’t wait.” She laughed.

“Well okay then.” He lifted her up slightly so that he could shove the duvet to the side, exposing the precious high thread count sheets beneath.

She ran her hands over the sheets as she squealed. “Oooh…Jeff. These are a-ma-zing!”

“I know.” He moved in, continuing to kiss her, at first gently but then deepening the kiss.

She threaded her hands in his hair, moaning slightly as he began to kiss her neck.

She mumbled, “Is this where you try not to crush me?”

“Hm?”

“And then we flip over?”

He paused and moved to look at her. “Like that night?”

“Um hum.”

“You know what, no. I think we should do this differently…”

“Really?”

“Yup. We have more of an understanding now, Annie. One might say we have a _repertoire_.”

“That’s definitely true.”

“And given how we’ve been _easing into things_ , I’m not sure how long I’m going to last this first time…”

“Jeff… It’s okay.”

“No. Look, let’s just start with something we both know you enjoy…” He began working his way with kisses down her neck while unzipping her dress from the side.

“Um hum.”

Annie shimmied out of her dress, tossing it on the floor before helping Jeff out of his shirt and pants.

Jeff paused to take in the view. “Well, well, now you’re wearing a different bra. It’s blue.” He began to caress the left cup.

“It matches the panties. It’s a set. My boobs can finally fit into it.”

“I see.” He was very much relieved that while her chest had deflated some since she’d started weaning Sophie, her breasts appeared to be substantial. _Yup,_ _definitely not flat._

She began to guide his left hand toward her back. “Can you help me?”

“Um, yeah.” He paused to regard her, feeling the wind knocked out of him for a moment.   He then carefully undid the back clasp, gently moving the bra down. Annie pulled it out from her arms before tossing it to the floor.

Jeff took some time to admire Annie’s breasts as she looked up at him tentatively. He made eye contact with her for a second, nonverbally asking permission before he started cupping her breasts, feeling their fullness.

“You like them?” She laughed nervously.

“Hell yeah. Oh my god, Annie, you are gorgeous. Damn.” He smiled giddily before he began tracing his tongue over her left nipple. “Is this okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, but nothing more than that right now…”

“No problem.” He pushed thoughts of Sophie out of his mind. _Time to move on to other business._ He began to make his way toward the lace panties. 

*************************

After he had provided Annie with some attentions and surreptitiously placed her panties under the bed, Jeff removed his aqua striped Paul Smiths.

Annie overtly ogled him. “You are very happy to see me, aren’t you?”

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

She laughed as she wrapped herself in his arms. “Your body is perfect, Jeff. I’m all soft and squishy.”

He licked his lips as he scanned her body, running his hand over her breasts, down her side and then over her full hips. He was aware this was the first time he had seen her completely nude.

“I love your little curves and your squishiness.”

“You do?”

“God Annie, your body is like a fucking goddess.”

“Jeff!”

“It’s true.” He kissed her breast as he grabbed her ass.

“But you’re all toned. And you go to the gym…”

“Just because I go to the gym, doesn’t mean I expect _you_ to. _I_ just don’t want to be soft and squishy. But I’m serious when I say I love _your_ body.”

Annie blushed, “I’d like you even if you were soft and squishy, Jeff.” She began to stroke his erection as she pushed him on his back.

“Really?” He let his arms fall upward and to his sides.

She nodded before she moved lower and gave him a quick kiss below.

“Uh, Annie…” He moved his head to look down and watch her.

“What?” She replied teasingly.

“Come back here, please. I’m not going to make it…” He pulled her up to him as he pushed her back down on the bed.

“Jeff….”

He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a small foil packet.   He gave her a questioning look.

She nodded eagerly, detecting a small squeal from Jeff as he ripped open the packet.

“Here, let me help you.” Annie watched Jeff’s expression turn to awe as she assisted him in preparing himself.

Jeff began kissing Annie more earnestly as he hovered over her.

“Jeff… please.” She opened herself wider as they kissed more deeply.

She guided him with her hands as he slipped inside her.

Jeff steadied himself for a moment as she adjusted to him. _Goddamn she felt amazing._

Annie almost shuddered as she felt him fully enter her, slowly pushing back further into her. _God it’s almost too much. He’s a giant._ But she was conscious that her body accommodated him quickly, and she took a moment to relish the full feeling.

She looked up at him and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

She laughed.

“What?” He found himself laughing as well.

“Nothing. We should have done this awhile ago.”

He nodded as he moved in for a soft kiss.

The kiss became more frenzied as Jeff started to thrust. Soon they established a rhythm and began rocking against the luxurious sheets. 

*******************************

Annie allowed herself to bask in the afterglow of their new adventure. Although Jeff was right in that he hadn’t lasted very long, Annie was pleased he had made an effort, attempting to slow things down here and there. But eventually it was too much and he had let himself go, letting out a long and surprisingly loud and deep voiced groan of satisfaction. Annie had known better than to laugh at that moment, and she had been overcome with a surge of affection for him even if she didn’t have another orgasm.

They were tangled in the sheets, Annie’s leg slung over Jeff’s body as they both lay panting.

Jeff kept his eyes closed. “Oh my god, Annie.”

She laughed. “Did you have a good time?’

He smirked, eyes remaining closed. “You could say that.”

Suddenly his eyes popped open and he leaned on his side to face her. “You?”

She was aware he was studying her face. _Is he worried?_ “Yeah.”

“I can go longer, I swear. It was just with all the build up….”

She placed a finger over his lips. “Jeff, it’s okay. You helped me out earlier, too. And I really enjoyed it. The whole thing.”

He mumbled, “Really?”

“Um hum.”

“What? You look like you’re going to laugh.”

She glanced over at the bedside table. “I’m glad you’re an old guy.”

His eyes widened in horror. “I’m sorry…what?!?”

She swatted at him. “I mean you have an alarm clock. I can see the time from here.”

“Oh.” He let out a breath.

She smiled impishly as she began rubbing her hand over his facial scruff. “We have time, Jeff. We can go again.”

He gasped, falling over on his back. “Jesus, Annie. Give me a few minutes.”

“Oh, that’s right. Cause you’re old.” 

*****************************

After rising to Annie’s challenge, Jeff felt more certain she was having a good time.   Their second round began noticeably slower, with Annie insisting on taking the lead.

“Let me be on top this time,” she mumbled as they kissed softly.

“Of course.”

As she rolled on top of him, she bit her lip. “This way I can see you more. You’re so frickin’ tall.”

“We’ve been over this. Acceptance. You’re a midg…” He was stopped by Annie’s mouth crashing into his. _What was he thinking about again?_

As Annie slowly slid down on him, she could feel herself gaining control. _I’ll shut his stupidly and adorably handsome face up._ She wondered what it’d be like if he let her set the pace this time.

Jeff let out a moan as Annie began to ride him. He reached up to touch her breasts, opening his eyes to admire the view.

They proceeded with Annie changing up their rhythm and pacing as she moved in intermittently to give him deep and slow kisses.  

Jeff was aware he wasn’t used to the intense eye contact in between their kisses. Normally, he told himself, he’d try to avoid actually focusing on the woman he was having sex with. But with Annie, he couldn’t look away. She was too damn beautiful. And she was _Annie_. And _this_ was happening. _Right now_. He wanted to savor her.

Eventually Jeff scooted up a bit so that his body was propped up by some pillows, allowing himself to get closer to her.

Annie felt herself begin to shiver as she held Jeff’s gaze. _Why isn’t he looking away?_ She became unnervingly aware of her intensifying desire to stay like this forever. _Get a grip, Edison_. She quickly closed her eyes and moved herself back.

“Oh God, Annie.” He buried his face in her chest for a moment before she began arching her back.

She could have sworn she heard him squeak.

Eventually she felt she had toyed with him enough and they engaged in a more earnest rhythm, Annie making sure to let him know where he could put his hands to the most use. He was eager to comply.

As they frenziedly rocked, Annie felt Jeff begin to buck up into her.

“Jeeefff….”

“Please…. Annie. Just let go.”

“Ummmm…..”

She closed her eyes, feeling her body zap repeatedly as she screamed. 

****************************

As they both came down from the intensity of their second round, Jeff didn’t know if he wanted to flee or pull her closer. He often had the urge to run after sex, and it unnerved him a little that his mind automatically went to that place, even with Annie. It had been so _intense_.

He pulled her closer.

After some time spent in silence, Annie’s head nuzzled in Jeff’s chest, she began chuckling.

“Hey now…” Jeff scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

She glanced up at him as she ran her hand over his pecs. “That was great, Jeff. Very impressed.”

“Well, _duh_.”

She propped herself up on her side, letting her hand rest on her hand as she continued to lightly caress his chest.   “You sure know how to show a girl a good time. I’m really mad now we didn’t do this sooner.” She affected a mock pout.

“I’ll say.” He began to tickle her side.

“Jeff!” She swatted at him as she laughed.

He turned on his side and pulled her in to a soft and lazy kiss. 

*****************************

After allowing themselves to rest for a little while in bed, Annie finally made the dreaded mention of them heading back to Dildopolis.

“Dammit.” Jeff sighed as rolled onto his back, moving his arm over his eyes.

“And we’re going to be late as it is. Here, I’ll text Nancy to tell her we’ll be there soon…” Annie reached across Jeff’s body to grab his phone.

She frowned, staring at it. “Darn. Of course I don’t remember her number. I’ll go get my purse.”

He put his hand on her arm to stop her. “It’s okay…her number’s in my phone.”

She raised her eyebrows. “What? How?”

He continued talking with his eyes closed. “I may have added her when we took Sophie to urgent care that night. You know, just in case I’d ever need to get in touch with her.”

She responded softly, “Oh.”

“Was that okay?”

Annie shrugged. “I guess so. Have you ever called her?”

Jeff began yawning as he opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. “No. There hasn’t been a reason to. But I just thought if something happened or something. I mean I know she’s your emergency contact.”

Annie regarded him for a moment before planting a light kiss on his forehead. “You’re sweet, Jeff.”

“Don...”

She placed a finger over his lips. “I know. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

He mumbled against her finger, “Thank you.”

She nodded as she texted Nancy. “Hey now she’ll have your number too.”

“Probably a good idea.”

Jeff got up and began to locate their various items of clothing. He paused as he glanced under the bed, pushing the lace panties further underneath.

He shoved Annie’s clothes over to her. She paused as she perused them, frowning for a moment as she looked at her bra. Jeff pulled on his boxer briefs, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

“Jeff, could you please go grab my purse?”

“Sure. Why?”

“I brought an extra pair of panties. Thank goodness.”

He paled as she looked over at her, noticing she was regarding him with intense interest.

“Wait…what?”

“Since I seem to have misplaced mine. I need another pair.”

He couldn’t read her expression.

“Um….”

She smiled coyly. “It’s no problem, Jeff. I have more than one pair of lace panties, you know.”

He nodded, biting his knuckle as he jogged out of the room to fetch her purse. 

********************************

Annie and Jeff arrived back at Dildopolis a little bit after Annie’s curfew. Nancy didn’t seem to mind, regarding them with amusement as they stepped into the apartment.   She and Annie talked for a few minutes before Nancy grabbed her bag to leave.

She turned to Jeff. “It’s late, and the parking lot probably isn’t the safest. Maybe you could walk me out?”

Jeff startled. “Oh, um, sure…” He glanced over at Annie.

Annie nodded. “Thanks, Jeff.” She paused before continuing, lightly touching his arm, “And could you please come back up afterward? Just so we can talk for a minute?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Jeff and Nancy made their way downstairs and stepped outside into the back parking lot.

Jeff squinted his eyes, sighing as he scanned the parking lot. “I’m glad I walked you down here. I don’t know where Thanos is. He was here a few minutes ago…”

Nancy waved at the air as she shook her head. “Yeah, I can take care of myself. Usually the creeps are still out at the bars this time of night. That’s not really why I asked you to come with me.”

He affected a nonchalant demeanor as he placed his hands in his pockets. “Oh.”

She leaned her shoulder against the building. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry if I was rude when we first met. You know, that day you came by.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, it’s okay, I understand. You gotta look out for her. I’m glad she has you.”

Nancy briefly smiled with closed lips before continuing, “I think we both look out for her. She’s always going on about how protective you are. While she pretends she’s irritated, I think she likes it. Just don’t overdo it you know.”

He nodded. “Noted.”

She narrowed her eyes as she moved away from the wall, straightening her posture. “She needs her freedom. And she’s a smart girl. And _I_ will protect her if she needs me to do so. So please don’t give me a reason to spring into that mode.”

He removed his hands from his pockets and moved them up in a defensive gesture. “Jesus, Nancy. I have no intention of doing that.”

She nodded. “Good. I didn’t think so. But I just feel I have to say it. She likes you.”

He let his hands fall to his sides and let out a breath. “The feeling’s mutual.”

“I can tell.” Nancy looked down at the ground as she softly kicked a cigarette butt someone had left. “We should hang out sometime. Get to know each other more. You and Annie should come over, and you can meet my boyfriend. I think you two would get along. I’ll send you a text.” She smirked as she glanced at her phone.

“Sounds good.”

At that moment Thanos came strolling up from the side of the building.

“Hey, Nancy, sorry I wasn’t out here. I had to take care of some jerks marking up the side of the store.” He paused to nod at Jeff.

Nancy shook her head. “Yeah, don’t worry. Jeff here was kind enough to make sure no one was back here. I’m going to get going.”

Thanos looked at Jeff, “Are you staying?”

Jeff sighed as he reached into his jacket and produced an envelope. He handed it over. “I’m pretty sure.”

Nancy chuckled to herself as she fished her car keys from her bag.

Suddenly Thanos beamed, wrestling Jeff into a bear hug. “Dude, I’ve been wanting to thank you for getting rid of the creepy guy. Nancy tells me he’s definitely goooone.”

Jeff awkwardly patted Thanos on the back before carefully disentangling himself. “Um, sure?”

“It’s a big deal, man. I hated him. His feet were so diiiiirty.”

Jeff felt his eyes bug out as he stared at Thanos’ giddy face. “Ooookay. Glad I could be of service.”

“You don’t know what this means to me.”

Jeff narrowed his eyes. “Hey, I’m well aware Vaughn didn’t have a Lexus. He just had that banged up hippie van.”

“True, but that’s only a part of it, man.”

*********************

“Whaaat?!? Hey!”

Jeff felt something soft hit him in the face. He opened his eyes, noticing the room was starting to become light. He looked at his chest and saw Sophie’s bear.

“What the hell?”

He realized Annie was still in his arms and dead asleep. He picked up the bear with confusion and looked over to Sophie’s area of the room. The lavender scarves had apparently fallen down, as he felt eyes on him.  

He startled slightly as he saw Sophie standing in her crib, staring at him while clutching the railing.

“This is why you creep me out sometimes.” He mumbled as he closed his eyes for a moment.

As he almost started drifting back to sleep, the laughing started.

“Oh come on. It’s not that funny.”

Annie stirred and slowly opened her eyes. “Hmmm?”

Jeff sat up slightly as he rubbed his face. “She has great aim. First gross goopy banana and now her bear. How does she do it? We should sign her up for softball or something.”

Annie opened her eyes fully, picked up the bear, and looked over at Sophie. She raised her hand to her mouth and began to laugh.

Jeff sighed. “This is why you need a second bedroom.”

“She’s just trying to wake you up.”

He grabbed a pillow and put it over his face, sinking back into the mattress.

“Jeff, you’re such a grouch.”

 

 

 


	7. Anthropological Observations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff observes Sophie

Jeff eyed the baby hobbit as she slowly made her way around the coffee table.

“Not bad, munchkin. Do it again.” He began to scroll through his texts. He leaned forward, frowning as he came to an incomprehensible one from Ian.

He mumbled with eyes glued to the screen, “What the heck? No, I will not butter your…” His eyes widened, “Jesus, I don’t think this was meant for me.”

He cringed as he tossed his phone on the couch.

“Hi.”

He startled as he saw Sophie standing right in front of him, holding onto the table with one hand.

“Oh, um…. Hi.” He leaned back slightly, raising his brows as he reminded himself she was listening to him at all times. It was kind of freaky.

She smiled as plopped onto the floor. She then crawled quickly over to him before tightly grabbing the furniture and attempting to swing a stubby hobbit-sized leg onto the couch.

Jeff watched her for a moment with a mixture of fascination and impatience. He noted she looked very determined. There may have been some grunting noises as she persisted in her efforts.

“Are you trying to climb up? Oh for crying out loud.” He frowned as he lifted her up and placed her carefully next to him in a seated position.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

This was very stimulating conversation.

Sophie smiled, making an “Oooooh” noise as she reached over for the phone lying on the cushion.

“Oh, no…give that back.” He quickly grabbed the phone away from her.

She immediately started to cry.

He sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. “Of course.”

“Jeff! What did you do to her now?”

He ran a hand over his scruff, letting out a long breath.  He then turned his body slightly so that he could see Annie in the kitchen.

“She cries about everything she can’t have. One such key item being _my_ phone.”

Annie walked over, staring at him in exasperation. “Of course she wants your phone. You’re practically attached to the thing. It probably looks very enticing.” She reached for a sobbing Sophie.

Jeff stopped her, placing his hand on her arm.  He pursed his lips. “I’ve got this.” He picked up Sophie, making sure to place his phone safely out of reach.

Annie smirked. “I see. You just want me to finish making pancakes.”

“I told you I’m not eating them. Too many carbs.” He rocked Sophie for a moment while grabbing Ruthie. Sophie immediately clasped onto the kangaroo and started sucking on one of the ears.

Annie squinted at him for a moment. “Um hum. You’ll be missing out. I make good pancakes.” She smiled smugly as she walked back into the kitchen, picking up her spoon to resume stirring the batter.

Jeff continued to move Sophie back and forth while she quieted down. He looked over to Annie and furrowed his brow. “Wait, why are you making pancakes anyway? You’ve never made them before.”

Annie hummed something to herself as she stirred. “I’ve made them before. Just not for you. And I don’t know… I just feel like it.”

He let out a loud and deep sigh of resignation. “Ooookay. Just _please_ try not to kill me. I’ve got an image to protect.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “All right, Jeff. If you mind her for a few more minutes I’ll whisk you some egg whites.”

“Thank you.”

He noted Sophie had begun to squirm out of his arms, tossing Ruthie off to the side. He carefully placed her standing on the floor again. She quickly grabbed onto the couch and looked at him, smiling broadly.

“Why does she always stare at me?”

“She likes you.”

Jeff scoffed. “Right.”

“She does.”

He nodded, fixing a squinty stare back at Sophie. She didn’t blink.

“Well, I guess that’s understandable. I mean I did introduce her to appropriate grooming. I probably am her hero.”

“Jeeefff…” 

****************************

After a sticky and carb-laden breakfast (he may have eaten one, ahem, two pancakes), Jeff and Annie engaged in some constructive play with Sophie, Annie instructing Jeff to praise her effort rather than achievement.

“Ooookay.”

“I already think she’s a bit of a perfectionist. I think that’s why she hasn’t started walking on her own. She doesn’t want to fail.”

“Annie, I think you may be projecting.”

“What if perfectionism is inherited?”

“Are you trying to be the perfect mom? Let me praise your _effort_. It’s difficult to know how she’ll turn out yet.”

“Shut up.”

After a little while Annie explained she needed to make a phone call to Adam regarding logistical issues for next week’s visit. She flashed a wide smile before she excused herself to the bedroom.

Jeff gritted his teeth as he felt all the muscles in his body tense. He told himself to get a grip. _It’s a good thing the ass is still involved._ He found himself wondering for the first time if he’d ever meet the guy. He figured that might be more than a little awkward.

He sighed as he sat down on the floor, resting his back against the couch.

“As much as it pains me to say this, I hope you can have a good relationship with your dad, munchkin.”

Yes, he told himself, it would be much better for her _. Even if her father was a douche who treated her mother like crap, right?_

He watched as Sophie pushed at an excruciatingly slow speed toward him on her new scooter, babbling excitedly.

“Hey!” He exclaimed as she nudged into his side.

He quickly moved the scooter back and turned Sophie in the other direction while surreptitiously grabbing his phone.

After several rounds of Sophie attempting to _very slowly_ propel herself, Jeff felt a surge of impatience and began pushing her. There may have been a few engine noises not necessarily coming from Sophie, but he figured no one was there to mock him. And the kid seemed to enjoy it, which was preferable to her screaming.

After he hit his limit, Jeff plopped himself back against the couch and scrolled through his texts. He groaned as he read a frantic and somewhat apologetic message from Ian regarding the earlier texting mishap.

Jeff shook his head as he talked to himself. “I didn’t really need to be reminded.”

He was suddenly unnerved by silence. He looked over to see Sophie sitting in her scooter, her head falling forward as she nodded off.

“What the _hell_?”

He couldn’t really fathom how that could happen, yet here he was a witness to it. He waited for a minute before he was convinced she was in fact _sleeping_ while seated in the scooter.   There may also have been a significant amount of drool.

“Jesus.”

He checked his watch, realizing it was close to her naptime. He carefully picked her up and wiped up her drool with a tissue. He then grabbed her bear and made his way quietly to Annie’s bedroom.

As baffled as he was about how the baby hobbit could conk out just like that, he found himself becoming giddy at the prospect of _adult_ time while she napped. He realized this was the first time he and Annie would actually be alone since they went to bed last night.

In his opinion, it had been way too long since they had sex. About 13 hours.

He felt his stomach flip in anticipation as he neared the bedroom. He paused, as he could hear Annie on the phone through the closed door.

“I don’t think I’m asking for too much here. It’s your daughter’s _first birthday_.”

There were a few moments of silence before Annie continued, “And I gave birth to her _without you_ one year ago, almost exactly. Do you know how horrible that was? I didn’t hear anything from you.”

More silence. Jeff felt his blood pressure rising. If he weren’t holding Sophie he would have been tempted to punch the wall.

Annie continued, “Don’t you dare say that to me. This isn’t about your _guilt_ , this is about doing what’s right for our daughter. All I’m asking is that you come by and see her. She says a couple words now. You can talk to her. It’ll be easier than the last few times.”

More silence.

“Good. I’m glad to know we’re on the same page. She’ll be excited to see you.”

Annie paused for a few moments before responding with a softness in her voice, “Um hum. She will be. I’m sure she misses you.”

Annie continued, “Of course she knows who you are. And if you’re so upset about that then there’s an easy way to fix it. I told you that you can come by whenever it works out.   If you see her more often then this won’t be an issue.”

Jeff found himself biting down on his lip with unnecessary force as he sucked in a breath.

“See this is why I told you…” Another pause. “You can’t keep blaming _me_ for stuff that’s clearly _your_ problem.”

More beats of silence.

“Fine. We’ll see you Saturday.”

Jeff waited for a minute before knocking softly. A moment later, Annie opened the door, smiling tenderly when she saw Sophie sleeping in Jeff’s arms.

“Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m all done.” She lightly caressed Sophie’s head.

“I can put her down.”

“Thanks.”

Jeff was unnerved by Annie’s sudden megawatt smile as she cheerfully patted his arm before she left the room.

He sighed as he carefully laid Sophie in her crib, making sure to arrange the blanket over her legs. He felt pang in his chest as he leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.

He whispered, “You’ll be okay, munchkin. Dads aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”

He made the tactical decision not to ask Annie about the phone call. Why ruin a perfectly good naptime by upsetting her more? 

****************************

Although quite pleased with last night’s developments, Jeff was beginning to get restless. After unleashing their pent up sexual tension completely, he found himself unable to think of much else. He supposed Annie may have been channeling her frustrations into her pancakes, but he irritably noted she seemed in a chipper mood all morning. A whole morning of them _not_ doing it. Because of the baby hobbit. The one who was now consistently saying _hi_ to him as she sweetly and annoyingly inserted herself into their time together.

At least naptime was a reprieve. But alas, Annie didn’t seem to want to _do it_ on her couch.

Annie bit her lip, widening her eyes as she moved her hand in circles over his pecs. “It’s just kind of constricting. I _really_ liked your bed.”

He took her hand and began to gently pull her toward the couch. “Well we aren’t there right now, are we? Let’s just try….”

Annie came to a stop, squeezing his hand. “We can try my bed. She’s sound asleep. You even saw how she can just be out cold. It’ll be fine as long as we don’t make too much noise.”

“The scarves fell down just this morning, Annie. We’re not risking it.”

She sighed. “I know. You’re right.”

“So…” He tugged on her hand, motioning over toward the couch.

She held her feet firmly where she stood while looking up at the ceiling. “Maybe we could go to your place sometime this week? You know, during her naptime.”

Jeff turned to face her directly, raising his eyebrows. “Oh, now that’s a thought.”

Annie looked at him, smiling slyly. “It’s too late today, but I’m not working on Tuesday. Do you have to go into the office that day?”

This was an interesting suggestion. He shouldn’t have doubted Annie Edison’s ability to problem-solve.

“No, I do not have to go into the office on Tuesday. That’s a great idea.”

She shrugged. “I can bring over her playpen and the extra cushion so that she’s not uncomfortable. She could take a nap like she did those times we studied at your place last fall….”

Jeff nodded eagerly. “Yes, she can sleep in my study. That’s an awesome plan. Let’s do that.”

Annie rolled her eyes as she sighed loudly.   “Come on, Jeff. Are you that scared we won’t _ever_ do it again?”

He moved in closer as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “No, of course not. I’m just realizing this is going to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. Your baby hobbit seems to be actually cognizant of us. It’s like she’s a person now.”

Annie narrowed her eyes. “She’s _always_ been a person.”

“You know what I mean. That’s why we can’t just do stuff near her. She’ll probably start narrating it.”

Annie swatted at him. “Jeff!”

“You know it’s true. She’s your kid, so it’s highly likely she’s a genius.” He smirked as he bent down to kiss her.

Annie mumbled against his lips, “Well that’s true.”

Jeff was reminded he could be very persuasive when he set his mind to it. They ended up doing it anyway, despite the lack of room to maneuver. There was something to be said for creative positions on Annie Edison’s couch. 

*******************************

Despite strategizing when they would be intimate _horizontally_ again and engaging in two other rounds during naptime, they hadn’t really talked much about what happened on Saturday. To Annie’s pleasant surprise, Jeff hadn’t seemed that eager to go home on Sunday so he ended up spending the day. Luckily he had left one of his t-shirts and an extra pair of pajama pants behind during a previous visit.

Annie had found herself tensing when she realized a couple weeks ago he had left some items of clothing in her room.   She had confronted him about it, attempting to appear calm and nonchalant.

_“You remember I brought them over last week? Cause I was coming over here in my suit and I need something to change into. Can’t crease the suit pants, Annie.” He had winked._

_“That doesn’t make any sense. You don’t need to sleep in any pants, Jeff. It’s summer. And I certainly don’t mind if you sleep in your boxer briefs. Or whatever.”_

_“It’s not really about sleeping. I just don’t think it’s appropriate for me to walk around here in my boxer briefs. You know, with the baby hobbit. And I’m not going to wear my suit pants all morning. She’ll probably throw something sticky on them and at the very least they’ll get wrinkled. That’s unacceptable, Annie.”_

But she realized he was right, it probably was _inappropriate_ for him to be walking around in his underwear all day. So they stayed in on Sunday, with Jeff mentioning something about possibly bringing a pair of jeans next time so that they had the option to go out. She shrugged and agreed to that notion, feeling he was being practical. It would be nice to have more options.

And she ignored the blue toothbrush now sitting on her bathroom sink. She was a stickler for impeccable oral hygiene after all, and he definitely spent a lot of time kissing her. It would just be gross not to let him brush his teeth.

She also ignored the sample sized hair products and lotion he had meticulously arranged at the top of her medicine cabinet. She knew his grooming was important to him, and she wanted him to feel comfortable. 

****************************

Annie again noticed Jeff’s place seemed especially tidy when she and Sophie arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Jeff pushed open the door as he lugged the collapsed playpen under one arm after having brought it up from Annie’s car.

“Voila. Chez Winger. Encore.”

Annie stifled a laugh. “You speak French?”

“Bien yes.”

“I think that’s supposed to be bien _sûr_. Or at least _oui_.”

“Touché.”

Annie rolled her eyes but her growing smile betrayed her amusement. She tilted her head toward Sophie in her arms.

“She’s been pretty active today and started to doze in the car on the way over. I had to make sure she didn’t fall asleep completely or she thinks she can skip her nap for some reason.”

“I’m glad she’s still on schedule.” Jeff leaned in gave Annie a soft kiss.

Annie blushed as Jeff stepped away. “It’ll be fine. She’ll go down for her nap in a little bit and then we can have grown-up time.”

He nodded. “Sounds good. Can I get you anything?” He walked into his kitchen, passing by the Scotch. He paused in front of a wine bottle out on the counter, motioning toward it with his hand.

Annie shook her head. “It’s the daytime. And I told you I don’t really drink. Not that the other night wasn’t nice, but I don’t need to have anything in order to _be_ with you.”

He widened his eyes. “Oh, um, okay. I just thought I’d offer. Hospitality?”

“Are you going to have a drink?” She eyed him nervously.

He let out breath, staring at the bottle. “Um, no. You’re right….it’s daytime.” He shoved the wine bottle over to the wall and walked over to the folded playpen. “This thing is a beast.”

Annie felt herself relaxing as she watched him make an exaggerated sigh of annoyance while he hauled the playpen off to the study. She knew he didn’t really mind that much. And she was pretty sure he was highly motivated today.

After Jeff successfully wrestled the formidable pack ‘n play, they let Sophie engage in some not too stimulating activities for about twenty minutes. She then started to nod off.

Annie put Sophie down for her nap. A few minutes later, Jeff laughed as Annie literally dove onto his bed.

“You like my Egyptian cotton, don’t you?” Jeff smirked as Annie ran her hands over the fabric once again.

“It’s not bad…” She smiled giddily as she flipped herself over to face him, pulling him into a deep kiss.

He wiggled his eyebrows as he wrapped an arm around her. He mumbled, “With me you’re always set in style. I sleep on these every night…”

She smiled against his lips. “When you’re not with me…”

“True. But we could change that….”

Annie stopped the kiss as she squeaked.

Jeff’s eyes widened, his pulse quickening. “I meant we could get you some better sheets. My treat. It’ll change your life.” 

**********************

As he held Annie in his arms, Jeff found his mind consumed by thoughts of how they could possibly do this again. Although he had more than an inkling from the makeouts they would have a good time in bed, he had to admit he was floored by how amazing the sex had been thus far. And he suspected it would continue improving as they built upon each stage of familiarity and comfort. He had reached this point with relatively few women, as he did tend to favor one-night stands. But he knew from his limited experience with repeated encounters they were still on the upswing. He found himself with a near constant want of melding with her, and the last day and a half without her had been slightly tortuous.

If he allowed himself to sit too long with his thoughts, it would begin to terrify him, as he was realizing his chemistry with Annie was something unusual. And he didn’t like facing things he couldn’t understand. So Jeff did what he did best, as he focused on the immediate want for more physicality.

He mumbled into Annie’s neck, “That was incredible. We need to prioritize this. And by prioritize, I mean _strategize_.”

Annie placed a kiss on his chest. “You’re so silly. I thought _I_ was supposed to be the one who was the horny teenager.”

He took in a breath. “Can you please not remind me of that right now? Let’s just pretend that you’re 30.”

“I’m fine with my age, Jeff. Deal with it.” She began to chuckle into his chest.

He sighed, running his hands through her hair. “Fine. I will feel slightly better though when you turn 20. We’ll need to celebrate it.”

Annie rolled her eyes as she tilted her head up toward his. “Go ahead and be ridiculous. But you gotta admit that despite our age difference, we seem to do some things _together_ particularly well.”

He smirked, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “That is an understatement.”

She laughed as she lightly punched him in the shoulder. “So let’s just enjoy it.”

He nodded. “See that’s what I meant when I said we need to _prioritize_ this. Let’s talk strategy.”

“Strategy?” She moved her hand in a circle over his chest. She wondered how often he waxed. It was very smooth.

He continued, “To maneuver around the baby hobbit. As cute as she is, she’s kind of a cock blocker.”

“Jeff!” She punched him not-so-lightly in the shoulder, gasping.

“Ouch! Hey, I have an idea.” He winced while suppressing a grin.

Annie rolled onto her side and looked at him with narrowed eyes. “This better be good.”

“Since I have the nice bed and _luxurious_ sheets, how about you stay over here sometime? Just like we did today, only we can make a night out of it.”

Annie sat up as she reached for the top sheet bunched down near the end of the bed. “You mean like overnight?”

Jeff moved himself up the bed so he was half upright and he could see her. “Sure. That way we don’t have to rush back to your place and you don’t need a babysitter. And although Thanos has now graciously offered me a bulk rate, I could save some serious cash if you and Sophie were to stay here sometimes.”

Annie pulled the sheet over their bodies as she lay back down next to him. She smiled at the softness against her skin. “Maybe.”

He puzzled for a moment at her lack of enthusiasm. As he pulled her closer, sinking back down into the mattress, he thought he’d be more direct. “How about this Friday? Unless you have to work early Saturday?”

Annie yawned as she nuzzled into his side. “I can’t. Adam’s coming over Saturday morning, and I don’t want to have to rush back over there.”

“Oh.”

She glanced up at him with a tinge of worry in her eyes. “And you probably shouldn’t stay over Friday night at my place, just in case. I don’t want you to have to rush out the next day.”

He frowned. “Cause you don’t want me to run into him?”

She nodded. “Of course. That wouldn’t be fun, Jeff. And I really don’t need him giving me grief about you. He doesn’t need to know about our arrangement. He’d just be an ass about it.”

He persisted, “Okay fine. Not Friday. What about Saturday night? You can come over here.”

Annie frowned.

Jeff looked down at her. “What is it? I thought it was a good idea.”

She took a deep breath before she spoke. “Actually, while I appreciate the idea since it would give us more flexibility, I don’t see how it would really work. I don’t like the idea of Sophie sleeping on the playpen mattress all night, even with the extra pad. And she would probably be freaked out not only not sleeping in the same room as me but also not sleeping in her crib. She knows her crib.”

“You think so?”

“I do. Like you said she’s more _cognizant_ of things now. And I don’t want to upset her, especially just because we want to _indulge._ ”

“Ugh. See this is why I think you’re like 30.” He closed his eyes. _Why does she have to make so much sense? And why does he really feel like he’s the horny teenager?_

She pouted, tracing whirls over his nipples as he shivered against her touch. “So maybe we’ll just have to stick to naptimes? And save the sleepovers for my place.”

“Fine.”

Annie settled her head down on his chest. They drifted into a light sleep.

 

 


	8. Gender Studies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys and girls pick up on clues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please pay attention to tags

Annie walked across the park while carrying a sunglass-clad Sophie and balancing a multi-pocket bag on her opposite shoulder. She felt the August sun beating down on her and was grateful she had remembered to put sunscreen on Sophie before they headed out. She glanced down occasionally to make sure she could still see the bear as it stuck out the side of the bag.

As they neared the basketball court, Sophie’s excited babbles transformed into shrieks. Annie winced at the strident pitch of her cries. But then she figured at least Sophie was happy after an early morning of crankiness. It hadn’t been an easy day.

Jeff glanced up from the game as he heard Sophie. He smiled at Annie, losing focus long enough for Troy to steal the ball from his dribble.

“Damn!” Jeff scowled as Troy made a slam-dunk.

“Take that!” Troy jogged over to Abed, giving him a high five.

Abed nodded twice before cocking his head. “I didn’t know Annie was playing. I thought this was a bro game.”

“Huh? Annie’s here?” Troy snapped his head in the direction of Abed’s gaze.

Troy began to jog over to Annie, stopping suddenly when he noticed Annie staring at Jeff, a huge beam on her face. He watched as Jeff sauntered over and gave Annie a quick sweaty hug.   Annie recoiled, scrunching up her nose before bursting out in laughter. Jeff grinned back at her.

Troy exchanged a look with Abed. Both of them shrugged and then joined Annie, Jeff, and Sophie near the bleachers.

Troy cleared his throat. “Hey Annie. I didn’t know you were coming by. Are you playing?”

Annie shook her head as she looked for a good spot to put Sophie’s gear.

“I just came by to watch. Jeff invited me. From what I saw so far, you guys aren’t bad. Nice job, Troy.” She smiled as she sat down with Sophie on her lap.

“Thanks. It was easy, actually. Jeff’s not that good.”

“Hey!” Jeff frowned.

Troy slapped Jeff on the back. “It’s true, man. Although you have been improving. I can show you more moves and soon you can impress all the ladies at Greendale this fall.”

Annie’s posture stiffened slightly as she looked down and unzipped the bag fully in order to free the stuffed bear.

Jeff shot a quick glance at Annie before turning fully to Troy.   He yawned as he rubbed a hand over his chin. “Sure, that would be cool. Thanks.”

Troy nodded, eyes squinting slightly. “Uh huh.”

Abed sat down next to Annie. He looked curiously at Sophie as she continued to shriek intermittently while raising her arms.

Annie let her eyes drift down to Abed’s jeans and sandals. “You don’t look dressed for basketball.”

“I’m not playing. I’ve been recording some footage.” He patted the camera bag strapped across his body. He then pulled the strap over his head and placed the camera carefully on the bench.

Annie nodded as she kept trying to get Sophie to take her bear. “Oh that’s right, Jeff mentioned you’ve been working on your documentary. How does this fit in?”

Abed tilted his head slightly as he responded. “I’m not sure yet. But I can’t waste a good bro bonding scene.”

Annie let out a quick silent laugh. “I hope we’re not intruding on bro time. It was just such a nice day and I needed to get her out of the apartment.” She furrowed her brow for a moment as Sophie once again swatted away her bear.

Jeff sat down on the other side of Abed and began going through Sophie’s bag. He pulled out a small baggie of crackers.

“She seems to want something. Is she hungry?” He reached across Abed to hand Annie the baggie.

Annie’s eyes widened as she watched Sophie reach toward Jeff and not the crackers. “Um, thanks, but I think she wants you.”

Jeff’s eyebrows shot up. He stared at Sophie, feeling a sudden tightness in his throat. “Oh, um, I’m kinda sweaty.”

Annie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she once again attempted to occupy Sophie with the bear. She began to laugh nervously. “Yeah, you are a stinky mess. Don’t touch my baby.”

Jeff relaxed slightly as he shrugged. “Sorry kid.”

Troy frowned. “Hey does that mean I can’t hold her either?”

Annie smiled slightly as she eyed Troy’s sweat stains on his jersey. “Afraid not, Troy.”

Sophie suddenly made a piercing shriek while attempting to propel herself out of Annie’s arms.

“Jesus!”   Jeff lunged over Abed and grabbed her.

“Jeff, you’re all gross!”

“Well what the heck am I supposed to do?” He propped up Sophie in his left arm as he held her facing him. He squinted his eyes at her. “What was so urgent, munchkin?”

Sophie giggled as she threw her face onto Jeff’s shoulder while gripping onto his t-shirt collar.

Jeff rolled his eyes but wasn’t that successful at completely suppressing the ego boost as his lips began to form a smirk.

“Give me back my baby! You’re going to get her dirty!” Annie reached across Abed, whose eyes grew wide as he leaned back.

Troy and Abed exchanged knowing glances as Jeff and Annie continued to interact across Abed.

Jeff grinned as he pushed Annie’s hand away. “Too late. She’s already lost to the sweaty basketball gods.”

“Jeff!”

He turned to look at Sophie. “I can’t help it if I’m popular. People flock to me. And apparently it starts young.”

Annie sat back up and scowled, crossing her arms across her chest. “You’re a jerk. Getting my baby all _gross_.”

“She loves it.” Jeff gave Sophie a squeeze and a quick kiss on her ear. Sophie continued to giggle, turning pink. She buried her face further into his shoulder.

Annie closed her eyes and let out a breath. “Fine.”

Jeff smirked again. “Well, okay munchkin, we upset your mommy enough.   Uncle Troy and I have to get back to our game anyway. Maybe you could stay here and watch.” He leaned over to hand her back to Annie. “Just try to not sweat too much on your mommy. She’s a refined creature.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “God.”

Abed gave a quick look to Annie. “Would it be okay if I hold her? As you can see, I am not sweaty.”

Annie sighed. “Yes, that’s fine. But you must stay seated _right here_ next to me.”

Abed nodded eagerly. “Deal.” He gently took Sophie from Jeff and sat her on his lap. “Sophie and I need more scenes together anyway.”

Troy began dribbling the basketball back over to the court as he laughed.   “Hey Jeff, let’s show Sophie what you can’t do!” 

*******************************

After watching Troy trounce Jeff on the basketball court for awhile, Annie began to show Abed some of Sophie’s latest achievements, including a performance or two of “ _Hi_ ” as well as how she could now take numerous steps without assistance.

Abed eyed Sophie as she took a few steps solo toward Annie. “So she’s mobile now. She walks.”

Annie laughed as she clapped at Sophie. “Yes, she just started doing it last week. I guess she’s technically now a toddler.” She caught Sophie as she stumbled into her on her fifth step.

Abed nodded vigorously. “This is good. There is more plot potential now. All sorts of hijinks can be had.”

Annie narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him from her spot crouched on the grass. “I’m still not going to let you strap a camera to her.”

“Think it over. If you want I can show you specs.”

Annie began to silently mouth something when Troy came waltzing over, ball under his arm.

“We’re going to take a break. And for the record, I let Jeff win that last one. Poor guy needed it.”

Annie looked up as she turned Sophie to face outward so she could take more steps. “Hum?”

Jeff’s face fell as he neared. “You weren’t watching?”

Annie bit her lip as she looked up at him.  She stifled a laugh when she saw his face. “Sorry.”

Troy snickered as he slapped Jeff on the back. “Rough luck, Jeff. Next time I’ll make sure to take it easy on you when she’s looking.”

Jeff scoffed as he plopped down on a bench. “Whatever.”

Abed caught Sophie as she toddled over to him. He mumbled, “This is very good.”

Jeff watched as Abed turned Sophie around toward Annie and let her take some more steps toward her mother. He maintained a somber face, but his chest may have puffed out ever so slightly.  

“Good job, my stubby-legged hobbit. You’re doing more steps. Looks like the practice helped.”

He turned to Troy as he explained nonchalantly, “What I lack on the basketball court, I make up for in extraordinary coaching abilities.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Jeff!”

“You know it’s true.” He winked.

Annie shook her head as a hint of a smile crossed her face.

Jeff sighed loudly, leaning back on the bleachers. “As fun as this has been gentlemen, it’s time for us to call it a day. It’s almost Sophie’s naptime.”

Annie blushed, avoiding Jeff’s gaze as she stood up with Sophie in her arms.

Troy shrugged. “Okay, but are we on for Wednesday?”

“Yeah, sure.”

A few minutes later, Annie and Jeff walked off toward the parking lot, leaving Abed and Troy still on the court.

Troy suddenly frowned as looked at Abed.

“Hey, wait, why does Jeff have to leave since it’s _Sophie’s_ naptime? And he didn’t even come with Annie anyway. He can’t drive her home.”

“I think this just means we’re excluded from the next scene.”

Troy’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

Abed began packing up his camera gear.

Troy placed the ball in his gym bag as he shook his head. He paused, turning to Abed and positioning a hand on Abed’s shoulder.

“Jeff seems like a cool guy. Douchey sometimes, but he’s nice to Annie, right?”

“It seems so. If I can get that camera on Sophie we’ll know for sure.”

“I don’t think she’s going to allow it, man.”

“Give me time.” 

***************************

“Welcome, ladies!” Annie opened her door, stepping back to allow Shirley and Britta entry.

Britta grinned as walked toward Annie and gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you, Annie.”

Annie beamed as she spoke quickly,  “I’m so glad you’re finally back from your trip so that we can have a girls night before school starts next week!” She did a little bounce.

Shirley’s eyes darted back and forth as she clutched her purse. She gingerly stepped into the apartment. “Soooo….this is nice!” She turned to Annie, smiling perhaps a bit too sweetly.

Britta leaned over to whisper in Annie’s ear. “I prepped her, but she’s still freaked out about the _marital aides_.”

Annie stifled a laugh and then reached forward to give Shirley a hug. “I’m glad you could make it. I think you’re the only one of the group, well besides Pierce, who hasn’t ever been here.”

Shirley bristled as she stepped back from the completed hug. “Oh really? Well then I am glad I beat _Pierce_.”  
  
Annie frowned slightly. “Sorry. I guess there hasn’t been a reason to have you over. We haven’t been paired for any assignments.”

Shirley looked at her sternly. “You haven’t been paired with Troy or Abed either, as far as I know.”

Annie shrugged. “Troy asked to come over to see where I lived, said he was doing research for finding his own place before he moved in with Pierce, and then he stopped by a couple other times. And well you know Abed. He tagged along with Troy.”

Shirley relaxed slightly. “That’s okay, An-nie. I forgive you.”

Britta shot Annie a bemused look before placing a bottle of wine on the kitchen table. She began to rummage through her bag for a corkscrew as she called out, “I’m so glad you called me. I can’t wait to celebrate you weaning Sophie.”

Annie let out a loud sigh. “Britta, I told you this is to celebrate the end of summer. I’m not going to get hammered with you. Just _one drink_. I thought we could hang out and have fun.”

Britta looked at her in confusion. “That’s what I meant.”

Shirley pursed her lips as she gave Britta a glare. “Um hum.”

Britta rolled her eyes and slapped her hand on the table. “Oh come on, Shirley, you know drinking isn’t against the Lord.”

Shirley began to fiddle with the cross around her neck. “I just think we could all be a little bit more responsible. I fully support An-nie here having one drink if she so chooses, but I will be _abstaining_.”

“Shirley.”

Annie walked over and placed a hand over Britta’s. “Hey, I don’t think we need to pressure Shirley to drink.” She turned to face Shirley as she continued, “And of all people I can be understanding. I know you and I haven’t talked about it much directly, but I still go to NA for my drug problem.”

Shirley stiffened as she placed her hand to her chest. “I didn’t say I had _problem_. I don’t know where you got the impression…”

Annie looked at her curiously for a moment before she cleared her throat. “That’s not what I meant. Well, I hope you know if it was anything like that I’d be fully supportive of you, no judgment. But what I’m saying is we can each decide for ourselves things like this.”

Shirley nodded with a look of relief.

Annie took a deep breath before she continued, “No need for peer pressure. That’s part of what got me on cocaine anyway.”

Shirley raised her eyebrows as Britta gulped while opening the wine bottle. Shirley and Britta exchanged alarmed looks.

Shirley bit her lip. “Sweetie, I thought it was _Adderall._ ”

Annie shrugged as she looked down. “I’m trying to be more honest. It was both actually. But hey, I’ve made it through my first year of college, and I’ve been clean since I found out I was having Sophie. And even though my mom turned her back on me when she found out about everything, it’s all okay.”

She resumed eye contact with the other women. “And I have you two as friends. And I just wanted you both to know. So we can be better friends.”

Shirley’s eyes teared up as she clutched her purse. “Oh sweetie, I’m glad you told us.”

Annie nodded. “Yeah, I’m trying to get up the nerve to tell someone else whose opinion means a lot to me, so I thought I’d practice on you before I told her.”

Britta put her arm around Annie. “No worries. And if she reacts like an ass, send her to me.”

Annie laughed. “I’m hoping she won’t think less of me. But okay.” 

*************************

As the evening wore on, Annie and Shirley stuck to their word, with Annie slowly sipping one glass of wine while Shirley contented herself with ginger ale. Britta, slightly unnerved by being the only one actually _drinking_ , began to drink more slowly.

“Annie, you have a kid and everything and this place still looks neater than my apartment. What’s your secret?”

Annie shook her head. “I frantically cleaned up before you got here.”

Britta nodded. “Okay, I feel less shitty about myself. Thanks. Even Annie Edison lives in chaos sometimes.”

“Yes, I do. Trust me…this place sometimes looks like a disaster zone.”

Britta smiled softly. “I doubt it. But thanks for trying to make me feel better.”

Shirley placed down an empty glass on the table. “An-nie, may I use your restroom, please?”

“Of course. It’s just over there.”

“Thank you.”

As Shirley finished up in the bathroom, she couldn’t stop herself from exploring, as she was want to do when she entered new people’s domiciles. She opened up Annie’s medicine cabinet. Inside was an assortment of makeup, facial cleanser, and lotion. She took in a breath as she eyed three toothbrushes shoved in back of the lotion. There was an adult sized purple one, a small pink baby brush, and an adult-sized blue one. She clutched her cross while saying a small prayer.

Shirley closed her eyes, wondering if she should ask Annie about it. But then she’d have to admit she was snooping, and she knew Annie would not take kindly to that. She quickly went through a list of suspects in her head, not liking any of the possibilities. Maybe Vaughn had left it there? Unlikely, as he had been gone since May.

She pushed down some disturbing thoughts as she moved toward the door. As she began to open it, she stopped, hearing Annie and Britta talking in the kitchen.

“So that’s why I’m furious with him, Britta. Well, I guess I should say I’m deeply disappointed. He wasn’t even genuine about wanting to be with us. About really trying this time, you know.”

“I’m so sorry I’ve been out of the loop.   I was just asking, given that Vaughn’s gone. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s not your fault. He’s just such a jerk. To think he was just doing it because his father wants us to be back together, you know for the family reputation part. Cause his father won’t even publicly acknowledge Sophie, you know. He’s embarrassed. But if we were  _together_ , preferably married, then ta-da, it’s all miraculously okay.”

“God.”

“And then Adam is no longer cut off. He gets to have back his cushy little lifestyle. He’s having a hard time trying to live as an adult. You know, like the rest of us have to.”

“Annie, I am so sorry.”

“I’m such an idiot for even thinking he was sincere. See, this is what I meant when I said I couldn’t trust my _own judgment_. Maybe with other things, but definitely not with _men_.”

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I’m not always making the best decisions either. But I don’t let it get me down. I even took your suggestion and had a pretty disappointing quickie with Jeff during paintball. But do you see me wallowing in it? No.”

Annie stared at Britta. _Paintball? That was interesting information._ She quickly let it roll off her back as she sighed. “Yeah, Britta, I _know_ , but this is different…”

Britta looked at her curiously.   “What do you mean you know? You know what?”

Annie shrugged as she averted her gaze. “Nothing, anyway, as I was saying…”

Britta’s eyes widened in comprehension. “Wait…you _knew_. You _knew_ I slept with Jeff! Not that I wouldn’t have told you anyway, but I’m a little freaked out that you already know.”

Annie continued to look away as she picked at a sticky spot on Sophie’s tray. “Yeah, but anyway…”

“But how did you know? Did Shirley open her mouth?”

“No, Jeff told me…”

Britta’s eyes widened even further as she interjected, “What?!?”

Annie continued as she glanced up, “But look…”

Shirley coughed as she reentered the room. “Hello ladies, I hope I’m not interrupting?”

Annie wiped a tear from her face as she stole a glance with Britta.

“No, it’s fine, Shirley. I was telling Britta how much men suck.”

Shirley shook her head. “An-nie, it will all be okay. Sometimes it just takes awhile for a man to admit he’s made a mistake.”

Britta and Annie exchanged quizzical looks as Shirley continued, “I’ve been talking to Andre more lately, and turns out he’s no longer with his little lady friend. They broke off their engagement, and he says he wants to see the boys more often. So you see the good Lord sometimes surprises us.”

Annie and Britta mumbled noncommittally, avoiding Shirley’s gaze as they began to take out a game of Trivial Pursuit. Britta also may have avoided looking at Annie as she puzzled over why Jeff would have possibly told Annie about their little rendezvous. 

****************************

Jeff strolled through the mall, having successfully completed a very important purchase. Well, _purchases_. But one was of particular interest and technically the reason he had left his apartment this afternoon. If he had added onto his mission by running over to the Gap, then that was acceptable. He did look striking in a blue shirt.

“Winger?”

Jeff cringed, recognizing the voice as he stopped and slowly turned around.

“Hey.”

Ian Duncan smiled broadly as he narrowed the distance between them, eyes sparkling with interest. He held a lidded Starbucks cup in one hand.

“You are a sight for sore eyes, my friend. I’ve finally ventured out into the world after my recuperation and was just wondering what to do with myself this evening.”

Jeff looked up for a moment and sighed. He returned his gaze to Ian. He noticed ‘ _Eeeek’_ written in black marker on the side of the coffee cup. “I’m busy.”

“Sure you are. That’s why you’re at the shopping mall on a Saturday at six.”

“I’m on my way somewhere. I just needed to pick up a couple things.”

“I see.” Ian raised his head slightly, eyebrows wiggling as he spied something in Jeff’s shopping bag.

Before Jeff could stop him, Ian lunged for the bag, pulling it from his hand.

“What the hell! Give that back!”

“Hee hee! Oh no, my friend!” Ian gleefully ran toward the food court.

“Goddamn it!” Jeff chased after him. 

**************************

“So, Winger, it was very good of you to join me tonight at this establishment.”

Jeff sighed as he placed his head on the bar. “Like I had much of a choice.”

“Now, now, you know you wanted to. Plus I know for a fact that Big Boobs is busy tonight.”

Jeff’s head sprang up. “Wait…how did you know that?”

“Tut tut. That doesn’t matter. What is important is that we are spending a Saturday night together, celebrating the start of a glorious new semester. One that will ensure the downfall of a certain imposter. Let me tell you of my plans…”

“Oh God. Please. Can we stop with this nonsense?”

“He ruined your Lexus.”

“I had it fixed. And I just don’t want to deal with him anymore.”

“Because you have other things occupying your mind these days? Anything to do with those lovely dark blue lace panties I found in that small Victoria’s Secret bag hidden in your Gap bag?”

“Cut it out.” Jeff cringed thinking of how Ian had held up the panties while yelling _Booyah!_ in front of Arby’s at the food court. Given that his goobery paws had been on them, even if only for a few seconds before Jeff snatched them away, Jeff was determined to burn them and then purchase a new pair at the first opportunity. Annie would have to wait for her surprise replacement panties.

Ian nodded smugly. “Now now, we agreed you don’t have to tell me per se what that’s about, and despite all of your evasiveness and denials, _I can guess_. But if you don’t want Dorie to hear about it, then you will indulge me. Let’s talk about the first day of classes. My plan is...”

Jeff reluctantly listened to Ian go into detail about some absurd plot. As he droned on, an attractive redhead slid into the seat on Jeff’s other side.

“Excuse me, but do you happen to know what their best drink is here?”

Jeff gave Ian a pseudo-apologetic shrug as he eagerly turned to face her.

He flashed a charming smile. “Well that depends. What do you usually like?”

The woman nodded as she slowly pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I like a good whiskey. And usually something a little sweet. But not _too_ sweet.”

Jeff’s eyes fell to the revealing neckline of her teal dress. “How do you feel about absinthe?”

“I love it.”

“Oh, well then I’d suggest a sazerac.”

She crossed her legs, tilting them toward him. “Really? I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those before.”

Jeff smirked as he motioned over the bartender.

“It’s on me.”

“Well, thank you.” She lightly touched his arm.

Ian leaned forward and mumbled something into his glass as he tapped his fingers on the bar.

Jeff turned slightly toward him. “Did you say something, Ian?”

“Nothing.”

Jeff laughed. “Oh I’m sorry, Ian this is….?” He looked expectantly at the redhead.

“Mindy.”

He nodded as he motioned over to Ian. “Mindy, this is Ian.”

The redhead smiled politely. “Oh it’s good to meet you.”

Ian nodded as he glanced with a look of boredom around the room. “Same here.”

Jeff chuckled as he caught Ian’s eye. He then turned to the approaching bartender and ordered Mindy’s drink.

Ian scowled and ordered another beer from the bartender. He punched the top of the bar with one fist. After eavesdropping on a few minutes of their light and flirty banter, he sighed loudly and excused himself to attend to his ‘ _biological needs_.’

Jeff grimaced at Ian’s choice of words and turned back to Mindy.  “Sorry about that. He’s having a rough night. Or more accurately, a horrible year. No wait for it… a crappy life.”

Mindy laughed as she swatted the air. “Oh that’s all right. He seems harmless enough. I must say you guys do seem like an odd pair.”

Jeff rolled his eyes as he sipped his Scotch. “We were kind of thrown together.” He paused for a moment in thought. “Well, that’s not completely accurate. We originally met because I got him off a DUI.”

“So you’re like a lawyer or something?” She began rubbing her foot against his calf.

Jeff felt the familiar pit in his stomach he experienced these days whenever the subject of his career came up. He began to press his palms up onto the bottom of the bar. “Um, yeah. I defend a lot of weirdos.”

“That sounds really interesting.” She moved her foot up his leg just a little bit.

Jeff closed his eyes for a moment, feeling slightly dizzy. He was also acutely aware of his heart rate increasing. And he was pretty sure this was not arousal. _Dammit. Why now?_

“Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes to see the redhead staring at him with concern.

He wiped his forehead with a napkin and looked down. “Oh, um yeah. Sorry. I’m suddenly not feeling very well.”

Her face fell. “Oh. Did I say something wrong? I thought we were getting along.”

He took a deep breath and met her gaze. “It’s not you. I just don’t want to talk about my job. I’m not enjoying it so much these days….”

“Is that all? No problem. We don’t have to talk about work stuff.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

She gave him a sly smile. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we get out of here? Let’s go someplace more private. And we can talk about whatever you want to talk about.”

Although his dizziness had significantly abated, Jeff felt his stomach tightening. Various thoughts began to flash through his mind, one of which was a quick calculation as to the last time he had picked up a woman in a bar. He realized with a mixture of awe and terror that it had been months. And he and Annie had been _with_ each other now since what, if he counted the stuff before the big event…. three months. _Oh God._ He quickly backed up and decided to count just the part since the sex. Okay…. Six, seven weeks? _Oh holy hell._

“What did I say now?”

He became aware of the redhead’s presence once again. “Oh, um, sorry. I just….” He gulped before continuing, “Look, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m kinda seeing someone.”

She stared at him with frustration. “Then what was this all about? I thought we were on the same page.”

He grimaced as he began to rub his forehead. “Sorry. I’m sort of technically in an open arrangement.”

“Oh.” She paused for a moment and then nodded slowly. “I don’t care as long as you’re not cheating on someone. You’re not married right?” She glanced over at his hand.

He let out a breath. “No.”

She shrugged. “And is she _aware_ she’s in an open arrangement with you?”

A small laugh escaped his lips while he remained conscious of the worsening constriction in his gut. He pictured Annie’s face, her mouth open slightly when she was exasperated with him. He could almost feel the light swat her hand would give him. _But was that what she really wanted?_ _Or was this just her lowering her expectations once again? Shouldn’t he want to surpass her expectations? She was amazing._

He pushed the thoughts aside, looking over to the redhead. “Yup. She actually requested it.”

Mindy rolled her eyes. “Well then I don’t see what the problem is. If you think I’m weirded out by it, I’m not. I just thought we could have some fun tonight. I’ve had a rough day. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

Jeff nodded as he stared at his Scotch. He ran his thumb against the glass.

“Well?” She looked at him curiously.

Jeff took another sip of his drink, letting the liquid warm his throat. He turned his gaze to her.

“I can’t.” He smiled apologetically.

“Oh.”

He gulped down a lump in his throat. “And it’s not you. Trust me. You’re really hot and actually seem like a nice person. I’m just not sure what the hell I’m doing these days.”

She looked at him with knowing eyes. “It’s okay.”

“Thanks. And I’m sorry.”

“Yeah well. Thanks for the drink.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for the company.”

She nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek.   “I hope you figure it out.”

He smiled weakly. “Thanks. Me too.”

Ian stood near the back bathroom, watching the scene at the bar. He shook his head and chuckled to himself before he decided to approach. He plopped back down in his chair.

“Struck out, Winger?”

Jeff shrugged. “Guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

“Oh come on, you and I both know you had her eating out of your hand. And I saw her kiss you. It looked positively tender and _pitiful_. In my experience, not getting laid usually ends with much more abrupt and forceful contact. Or at the very least indifference.”

Jeff stared intently at his Scotch as he took another sip. “Whatever. I decided to pass.”

“You know if you ever feel like being completely honest about what you get up to in your spare time…”

“Yeah yeah, I know. You’re a licensed therapist. Please don’t remind me. Can we now abruptly change the subject?”

“Only if you let me talk about Chang.”

“Fine.”

 

 


	9. Return to Greendale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie begins her sophomore year at Greendale.

Annie rolled over, feeling disoriented.

“Mmmmmm” She mumbled, stretching herself against the luxurious sheets.

She felt a soft touch against her cheek. She squinted as she recognized the scent of her daughter’s skin. “Oh, hi sweetie…. Wait…what?”

Sophie sat there giggling as she watched Annie’s eyes open wide.

Annie sprang up, clutching the top sheet over her chest. “Jeff!”

The last thing she remembered they were both naked and sweaty, tangled up in each other after an intense _naptime_. She had been a little taken aback at how eager Jeff had been that afternoon. Not that his enthusiasm was unusual, but he had acted as if he hadn’t touched her in weeks. Of course they hadn’t seen each other last night, as she had the girls over. Despite discovering Jeff had run into Professor Duncan, Annie had been relieved he hadn’t seemed hungover at all, so she gathered he hadn’t had too late of a night. But still his energy had been surprising.

She suddenly spied him rummaging through the open closet. She noted he was dressed, wearing a light grey t-shirt. She thought he looked really cute in his little cargo shorts. She eyed his toned calves. As tired as she was, she was beginning to feel the urge to make him come back to bed.

Well, she would do so if perhaps Sophie weren’t mysteriously sitting there. Annie noticed with suspicion that Sophie’s hair seemed to be particularly well coiffed. She touched a ringlet and frowned. _Was this gel?_

Jeff glanced back over his shoulder. “Oh hey, you’re awake. Hope you don’t mind. She was restless. And you’ve been conked out for a good two hours. I must have really done a number on you.”

“Shhhh! Jeff!” Annie placed her hands over Sophie’s ears while holding up the sheet underneath her arms.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything bad.”

Annie rolled her eyes, blushing as she slid back down on the bed. She snuggled Sophie into her side.

“I guess I must have needed the sleep. School starts tomorrow. There goes any rest.”

He continued talking to her as he reached further back on a shelf. “Yeah I figured. Despite us both being shackled back at Greendale, I hope you’ll still come by _at least sometimes_ during naptime.”

“Maybe.”

Jeff almost snorted.

“Hey, what are you looking for?”

“Just a sec….yes! Here it is.” He removed something from the top shelf.

Annie watched as he pumped his fist in the air. He then walked over and plopped down on the bed. He tossed a small wrapped box in front of her.

Annie smiled as she glanced at the box. She eyed the purple bow and pink and purple wrapping paper. “Is this a present?”

He nodded.

“Is it for me?”

He sprawled out on the bed, positioning himself so that his head was on the opposite pillow. He leaned on his arm to face her, smirking. “Um hum.”

She sat up again as she moved Sophie onto her lap. “Why?”

Jeff glanced off toward the wall. “This might sound strange.”

Annie eyed him curiously. “You can tell me.”

He took in a breath, closing his eyes for a moment before he looked down. He began to knead the edge of the top sheet. “I may have gotten you this for your birthday last year. And I figured since I never gave it to you, I might as well give it to you now. You’ll see why when you open it.”

She tilted her head to the side, attempting to catch his eye. “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you have given me this before?”

He scoffed. “It just felt weird, since you told me it was your birthday after the fact. You remember, when we were driving home from my mom’s place after Christmas. I had already gotten this for you, assuming your birthday was later in December. But then I just felt kind of dumb giving it to you.”

“Why?”

“Because obviously you didn’t want to celebrate your birthday with me. So I just put it away. I suppose I should have returned it.”

Annie’s face fell. She stared at him, noting his cheeks were pink. She had a hunch he was embarrassed. At the same time here he was giving the present to her now and telling her about this. She was struck at how unusually vulnerable he was being.

She knew she had to tread carefully. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“I’m sorry I gave you the impression I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday with you.”

He shrugged one shoulder and glanced up at her. “It’s okay. You celebrated with Nancy. I get it. It’s fine.”

“Jeff….”

He cleared his throat. “It’s fine. So anyway, I just thought I’d give this to you now…” She shoved the present further toward her.

“I didn’t think you’d want to celebrate with me.”

“What?”

“That’s why I didn’t mention my birthday. I just thought you were all engrossed with your lawyer stuff and didn’t want to hang around with me, you know, since Greendale is lame.”

Jeff looked over to her, his eyes opening slightly more. He cleared his throat once again. “Annie, you have to know by now that I don’t feel that way about you.”

For a moment Annie felt her breath catch. She quickly composed herself before she replied, “Yeah, by now I know that. But I didn’t back then.”

He nodded as he scooted to a seated position against the headboard. He gently yet firmly stopped Sophie before she grabbed the box. He pulled her onto his lap.

He tilted his head toward the present. “Open it.”

“Okay.” Annie broke out in a wide grin.

She carefully tugged at the ribbon and shimmied it off the box. She then started to meticulously undo the tape near the edges.

“Oh for crying out loud, Annie. Just tear the paper. This is what was so frustrating watching you open Christmas presents last year.”

Annie pouted. “I like to save the paper.”

Jeff rolled his eyes as turned Sophie over in his arms to keep her occupied and less likely to crawl over to the present. He watched with impatience as Annie unwrapped the box. She finally opened it.

Annie’s eyes widened as she lifted up the purple tissue paper, taking in the sight of the most elegant fountain pens she had ever seen. She then noticed a supply of various color inks.

“Jeff…”

“Look at the colors.”

She smiled broadly as she read the color names, “Private Reserve Tanzanite, PR Plum, Papier Plume Violet, Diamine Amazing Amethyst, Diamine Imperial Purple, Mont Blanc Violet, Pelikan 4001 Violet, Noodlers Concord Grape.”

She felt her cheeks flush. She had to admit this was the most romantic gift she had ever received, even better than purple lilies. Not that she was sure he meant it _romantically_ , but she was definitely turned on by it.   She looked up and met his gaze. She could have sworn he was looking at her with a mixture of hopefulness and worry.

“Oh my god, Jeff! I looooooove them! Thank you!!!!” She squealed as she did a bounce on the bed.

Sophie shrieked in solidarity.

He shrugged as he let out a breath. “I thought now would be a good time to give them to you, since it’s the beginning of the school year and all. The reason I got so many different inks was because I wasn’t sure what kind of purple you liked be…”

He stopped as Annie slammed her mouth against his. 

********************************

Annie hummed with enthusiasm as she began her sophomore year at Greendale. She always did love the first day of school, and she felt this year would be easier than last, especially now that Sophie was a little older and she had the support of the study group. She felt amazing returning to campus, noting the familiarity of the daycare center, the distinctly Greendale smell of her locker, and the bright face of the Dean as he attempted to personally greet very student as they stepped foot on campus. She had to pry his eager hands from Sophie’s cheeks as he gushed about how much she had grown.

Annie discovered there had been some changes at Greendale amongst the staff. She wasn’t that upset to hear Professor Slater had decided to resign and was now working at City College. She supposed it was for the best, as she imagined Slater might be pretty embarrassed about the Tranny Dance. And Professor Duncan had obtained a restraining order against Chang, who was now somehow a _student_ in their anthropology class. Jeff was gleeful as he recounted this information to Annie as they stood in the cafeteria lunch line.

“See, I told you Ian is more bluster than bite. He had all sorts of insane plans to get revenge but turns out he went the boring legal way after all. He asked me to put him in touch with Mark, which I did. And now he has this amazing restraining order. You should read it. Mark used some colorful language. He must have called in a favor from the judge.”

“If you think it’s such a boring tactic, why are you grinning?”

“Do you know what this means? Chang can’t get within 25 feet of Ian, which means if I stand next to Ian at all times Chang can’t get near me.”

Annie paused as she waited for Jeff to catch on. She then let out a long sigh. “Then you’d have to stand next to Professor Duncan at all times.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows as it hit him.   “Damn.” He pursed his lips before he continued, “Still, this could get interesting. Ian tells me he’s got some fantastic stuff planned, utilizing this 25-foot space. And either Chang will break the order and then have the legal consequences or it will be fucking hilarious.”

Annie squinted her eyes at him. “I thought you were above this. You said all summer Professor Duncan was being ridiculous. But I get the feeling you’ve actually bought into everything he’s been saying.”

Jeff scoffed. “Whatever. _I need this_. Otherwise I may just die of boredom being back here.”

She rolled her eyes as she reached to grab a plate of food from the lunch line. Jeff playfully bumped her shoulder before he asked the cafeteria worker for mac and cheese.

“Sorry, looks like your food just walked out on you. Same way you did to Britta.”

Annie heard several girls snickering nearby. Jeff’s face showed irritation as he stomped over to have a heated conversation with Britta. Annie watched as they exchanged hushed words.

After a moment, she heard Britta exclaim, “High on my own _drama_?!?” Britta then slammed food down on Jeff’s head.

Annie grabbed a role of paper napkins and hurried over as Britta walked off with her legion of fans. She began wiping Jeff’s face and shoulders.

“Oh my god, Jeff, are you okay?”

He lightly pushed her hand away, frowning as he grabbed the rest of the napkins from her other hand.

“She’s turned every woman on campus against me.”

Annie narrowed her eyes. “Not _every_ woman, Jeff.”

He sighed. “I know. But this sucks. It’ll ruin my entire year. I have to find a way to get her back for this….”

“You will do no such thing.”

“Huh?”

Annie glanced up and opened her eyes wide. “You have to let her humiliate you. You know that, right?”

Jeff shook his head. “What the hell?”

She affected her best Disney eyes as she continued, “You know how you said you _need_ the Chang and Duncan drama? Well, after what you did to Britta, she _needs this._    Let her regain some dignity. It’ll all blow over.”

“See this is why you’re like thirty.” 

************************

In the end, Jeff put up with some indignities before issuing a public apology to Britta in front of Dr. Bauer’s anthropology class. He had resisted every urge to call Britta’s bluff. At one point he was seriously tempted to declare his love for her in front of the entire student body just to see what she would do. But then he realized how such an act would probably instantly kill his relationship with Annie. He knew he shouldn’t be declaring his love for their mutual friend, even if it were a big joke.  Or at least that’s what Ian said. Not that he usually listened to him, but maybe the loon had a point on this one. 

Although Dr. Bauer looked a bit irritated during Jeff’s indulgence in humility, she decided to use the speech as a lesson in mating rituals.

“You realize, Mr. Winger, that you’ve now depreciated yourself in front of the attractive female. She will not view you as a serious romantic prospect. If you had played coy, perhaps doubled down on your apparent ass-holish treatment of her from this Tranny Dance, you likely would have increased her attraction to you…even if said attraction was incredibly misguided.”

Abed sat in the second row, transfixed. He frantically tapped Troy on the shoulder.

Troy turned to him, “What is it?”

“She’s so meta. I think I’m in love.”

Troy slunk down in his chair looking crestfallen. 

****************************

The group reconvened in the study room later that afternoon.   Annie entered carrying a babbling Sophie, sitting down with her on her lap. Jeff smiled over at the baby hobbit and gave an exaggerated “ _hi_ ” to her, which was excitedly reciprocated. He glanced at Annie for a moment before he refocused his attention on his anthropology book.

He then looked around the room and cleared his throat. “So, ladies and gentlemen…Pierce. We are reconvened. Welcome to year two.”

Shirley gave a clap. “Oooohhh….I’m just so glad everyone is friends again. And that we all didn’t lose touch over the summer! But still this is so ex-cit-ing to be back!”

Abed nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, although I am hoping we can focus more on adventures this season. The relationship stuff was getting old.”

In the background, Sophie began babbling softly, “ _dddddddddddddd._ ”

Britta scoffed. “Relationship stuff? Oh come on, I think I did have an adventure today. I was officially labeled ‘awesome’ by most of the female student body, and I got lame boy here to grovel. How much more exciting can it get?”

Jeff grimaced as he gripped his textbook. _Play it cool, Winger. Don’t react. You’re doing this for Annie._

Troy nodded. “Britta has a point. Sometimes the relationship stuff can lead to adventures.” He looked hopefully over to Abed, “Right?”

Abed stared at the table. “I don’t know.”

At that moment, Shirley caught sight of Jeff’s face as he gazed in Annie’s direction. She was taken aback by a softness in his eyes.

She frowned, making her most judgmental of faces. 

***************************

On Tuesday, Annie slammed herself down next to Jeff in the student lounge.

“Well there goes my perfectly planned semester!” She pursed her lips, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jeff stopped scrolling on his phone. He turned slightly toward her. “Dare I ask?”

“Ugh! I’m so mad!”

Jeff sighed. “Duh.”

He looked over at her tense shoulders and downright furious expression. She flung her backpack on the floor and kicked it.

_Okay, this must be really bad._

“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense.”

Annie closed her eyes as she began to rub her forehead. “I feel a tension headache coming on. Great. Just what else I need.”

Jeff smirked as he leaned in to whisper, “Hey maybe we can get out of here after our last classes and I can help you with that.”

He knew it was seriously bad when she didn’t swat him.

“Oh come on, Annie. What happened?”

Annie looked up at the ceiling, tightening her crossed arms. “You remember how you and Shirley gave me the priority registration?”

“Of course.”

“And you remember how I was able to block all my classes so that I could have Sophie in daycare as little as possible as well as hold down my job?”

“Yessss…”

“Turns out one of my stupid professors decided he just _had_ to move my health care communication class to a different time. Cause of his own childcare issues. It was supposed to be Thursday mornings but today I received an email saying he’s moving it to Thursday _evenings_. So he can be home with his son in the mornings. Something fell through for him.”

Jeff nodded solemnly. “Bummer.”

Annie’s eyes darted to him as she uncrossed her arms and began gesturing wildly in the air. “ _Bummer?!?_ Jeff, I need this class. It’s a prerequisite for my _major!_ And it’s only offered fall semesters. And I couldn’t take it until I got through some basic courses last year. Now I have to wait _an entire year_ to take it again!”

Jeff gulped, eyes widening. He felt he should say something profound and reassuring.

“Oh.”

Annie stared at him incredulously. “ _Oh?!?_ I tried talking to the professor just now, but he won’t budge!”

Jeff shrugged, his mouth becoming dry as Annie continued to stare him down. “Well sounds like he can’t.”

Annie flung her arms in the air and looked erratically around the lounge. “And then what am I supposed to do?!? This can’t be happening.” She fell forward and placed her head in between her knees. “God I might hyperventilate.”

“I have some tricks to stop that if you want to know.”

“Huh?”

He began rubbing her back. “Look, Annie, tell me what exactly the problem is with this new class time. I’m sure there’s some solution.”

She raised back up and shook her head. “I wish there was. The daycare center closes before class lets out.”

He frowned for a moment. “When does it close?”

“Four thirty.”

“And when does class end?”

She let out a long sigh and appeared almost on the verge of tears. “Five thirty.”

Jeff suddenly felt his muscles relaxing, unaware they had been tight. He gave her a slightly reproachful look.   “You mean we’re just talking about an hour? Annie, come on…”

Her eyes widened as she lightly slapped him on his arm. “I can’t leave Sophie _alone_. And I can’t leave in the middle of class to get her and bring her back. I already asked the professor if I could. But he says it would be too disruptive to have her in there. And he’s right. Not at her age.”

Jeff furrowed his brow. “You don’t have to be the one to pick her up…”

“I know. I already thought of that too. I texted Shirley and practically begged her. But of course she needs to be home with the boys, and she leaves campus at three on Thursdays and then picks them up from schoo….”

Jeff interjected sharply, “Annie.”

“What?”

He looked at her intently. “Do I have to point out the obvious solution?”

Suddenly he watched her practically freeze, eyes wide open, as she stared at the far wall.

“Annie?”

“No.”

He felt his stomach fall slightly as he puzzled over her reaction. “Why not? It’ll be fine. I’m done with class at four.”

She pursed her lips and shook her head, continuing to avoid his eyes. “It would be _every_ Thursday. All semester. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t. I’m offering.” _What the hell?_

“Ummmmm…..”

Jeff stared at her, noticing she appeared in immense pain disproportionate to the situation. He sighed in frustration, perhaps raising his voice slightly. “Stop acting like I said I was going to cut off your arm. You’re not going to miss out on one of your needed classes. That’s ridiculous. I can just pick her up and we can wait for you. Unless you don’t _trust_ me with her for an hour?”

Annie turned to look at him. “No, that’s not it. I don’t think you’d hurt her or anything.”

Jeff’s expression softened as he eyed the small tear beginning to fall down her cheek. He reached over and wiped it away.

“God Annie. I would hope you wouldn’t think that.”

She shrugged, biting a quivering lip as she gently pushed his hand away. “It’s just a huge responsibility.”

He closed his eyes for a moment before he continued. “Do you think I’ll forget to do it? Come on.”

She pushed down a laugh as she nudged her backpack over to the couch with her foot. “No. I just don’t want you to feel resentful.”

He frowned. “Resentful?”

She leaned over to pick up her backpack and patted it apologetically before gingerly placing it on her other side. “Cause I’m sure you’d rather leave campus at four. And do whatever it is you do Thursday evenings.”

“Well there have been quite a few Thursdays this summer when you know very well where I’ve been.”

Her faced reddened. “I meant during the semester. You might have other things you want to do rather than hang out with my kid for an hour.”

Jeff rolled his eyes as he pulled her close to him, leaning her head against this shoulder.  He gave her a quick kiss on her head. “Annie. I’m doing this. You’re taking your class. Sophie and I will hang out, most likely here in the student lounge, and it will be fine.”

Annie glanced up at him. “Are you sure?”

“Yup. Sophie and I are buddies. She practically worships me. Not that I blame her.”

Annie smirked. “You know, you just ruined a perfectly lovely moment. I was almost going to offer you an exchange of favors. But now I don’t know if I should.”

He lowered his voice to a growl as he stroked her hair. “Oh you’ll change your mind.”

Annie began to laugh softly into his chest.

“This isn’t a porno, Winger! At least buy her dinner first!”

“Shut up, Leonard! I know you drink prune juice and eat beans before your psychology class!” 

********************************

Although she had initially been hesitant to take Jeff up on his offer, Annie had to admit it was the easiest solution. She told herself it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was a snap for her to add Jeff to the daycare list. He had already been with her to pick up Sophie a few times last year. And there was that time he was nice enough to drop her off. So she knew he was fully capable of handling the situation. And Sophie liked him very much, so she wouldn’t be distressed at seeing Jeff.

Yes, this could work. She was just being practical.

With the return to Greendale, however, Annie was beginning to feel a bit uneasy regarding her whole ‘arrangement’ with Jeff. She told herself she was probably over thinking it. Over the summer things had been great, but she supposed she was nervous for them as they reentered their ‘normal’ life outside of the large bubble they had built around themselves since May. She wondered if they could survive being at Greendale with all of its gossipers and their friends. And Britta.

She sunk further into Jeff’s couch as she pictured her friend’s face if she were to find out.

Jeff walked over to her and placed a kiss on her shoulder as he sat down.

“You okay?”

Annie grabbed a teal and pink decorative pillow and hugged it to her chest. “Yeah. I was just thinking over what I have to do this semester. And some other stuff that might come up.”

He nudged her playfully. “Well stop it.   I told you we’re relaxing tonight. You know to celebrate the beginning of the semester.”

She smiled softly as she patted the pillow. “You know I can’t _celebrate_ with you this evening.”

He shrugged, grinning. “Are we sure? We could try. If she freaks out, we can always go back to your place and put her in her crib.”

“Jeff…”

He continued, mostly teasingly, “Maybe we can fool her into thinking it’s naptime.”

She thought about how sweet he had been, especially over the last few days. And while she knew she should be pleased, she kept waiting for something. Something bad. But she figured she was being silly. So far things had been just fine.

She startled out of her thoughts as she realized Jeff had been talking. She pulled her efforts together to focus on his words.

“And why do you keep putting off us getting together with Nancy and Ryan? You know she’s been inviting us over. I keep deferring her to you, but she sent me another text today. It’s starting to get awkward.”

Annie shrugged. “It seems so couple-y.”

Jeff frowned as he inched away from her.  He picked up Ruthie and placed her on the coffee table. He watched Sophie begin to toddle over before she suddenly sat down and crawled speedily over to the table. “Your point being…”

“You know what I mean. It sounds like a double-date.”

He sighed as he watched Sophie pull herself up, grab the kangaroo, and then disappear again on the other side of the table. He tilted his head around the table so that he could see what she was doing. He spied her crawl over to her other toys before dropping Ruthie and using the ottoman to pull herself to a standing position once again.

He affected a nonchalant tone as he continued to avoid Annie’s gaze. “I don’t think we need to frame it that way. She’s your sponsor. And she’s a friend of yours. A good friend. And she says she’d like to get to know me better. Which I can’t begrudge her.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment.

He turned to look at her. Smirking, he added, “I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was if I were in her place I’d want to know who you were spending time with too. She’s looking out for you.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “I know.”

“So let’s just go over there. And Nancy can be reassured I’m not a drug dealer.”

Annie scoffed. “I’m sure she doesn’t think…”

Jeff shook his head. “That’s part of what this is about, right? I’ll put her at ease. Everyone will be happy.”

Annie looked down for a moment and shrugged. “Okay.”

“Good.” Jeff leaned over to pick up a babbling Sophie as she toddled over from the makeshift play area they had arranged for her near the wall. Mostly said area consisted of a small pink beanbag and a few of Annie’s stuffed animals. Jeff squinted his eyes as he realized there also appeared to be a plastic lid from one of his Tupperware containers. _How the hell did she get that?_

He glanced over to Annie. “You know, I’m starting to think we should put up one of those baby gate things near the kitchen. Like what my mom has for my cousin’s kid. I think the hobbit got into one of the bottom cabinets.”

Annie appeared not to listen to what he was saying, as she furrowed her brow in thought. “If you’re going to be watching her this Thursday, I’ll need to make sure we go over a few things. Like what to do if she gets fussy, her snack schedule, her medical information in case she hurts herself….”

He placed Sophie on his lap, exchanging their usual verbal greeting before he provided exposition. “Your mommy seems to be over thinking everything this week. She’ll see how well we ace this Thursday. We’ll prove to her you won’t spontaneously combust.”

Annie rolled her eyes as she got up to wander into the kitchen.

“I’m going to fill up her sippy cup. And then you two can talk about me like I’m not even here.”

Jeff chuckled as Sophie’s babbling became louder.

Annie busied herself with the cup and then began to walk back into the living room. She was surprised Jeff wasn’t making some sort of obnoxious comment about her supposed overprotectiveness and wondered why he had been so quiet for the past minute or so.

As she stepped closer, she caught sight of his expression. Gone was the cocky smirk and in its place was what she could only describe as abject terror. He was still on the couch. Sophie sat on his lap facing him as she vocalized a long string of _dadadadadadadas._

Annie watched the color drain from Jeff’s face.

He uttered, “Well crap.”

 


	10. Translations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff attempt to speak the same language

Jeff felt his heart stop.   Or did it stop? Wouldn’t that mean he was dead? Maybe it was going so fast it just felt like it stopped? Was he dying?

Sophie continued on with her _dadadadadadadadas_. As Jeff’s face transformed into further panic, she began to giggle.

Jeff stared at her a she started to turn from a pink to a light shade of purple.

“Are you okay? Can you breath? Oh my god, are you not breathing?” He hoisted her on his shoulder and began patting her on the back.

Annie stood there with the sippy cup watching the scene. Her stomach may have fluttered a little as she began to realize what was likely going through Jeff’s mind.

She loudly cleared her throat. “Jeff, she’s fine. She’s just laughing. Probably because of that ridiculous face you were making.” She walked over and sat down next to them on the couch.

Jeff’s eyes widened as he leaned Sophie back to take another look at her. He began to notice his heart was in fact pounding. It felt like it was coming up into his throat. He wondered if Annie could hear it.

He addressed Sophie directly, using all his energy to affect an overly cocky pose, “Oh. So it’s more of your usual hearty chuckle then?”

Sophie continued to cackle as tears formed in her eyes.

Jeff let out a breath.

Annie recognized that he was still freaking out. “You’ve heard her do that a million times. You now, when she finds something hilarious.”

Jeff kept staring at Sophie as he placed her back on his lap, facing him. “Right.”

“Are you okay?”

He responded in a low, even voice while not taking his eyes off Sophie. “Did you hear what she called me?”

Annie took a deep breath. “I know what you think she said, but that’s not what she said.”

He looked over at her with a puzzled expression.

Annie continued, “She’s been playing around with her ‘ds’ lately….”

He lowered his voice to an almost whisper, “She said _dada_.”

“She said _dadadadadadadadada_.”

“Same thing.”

“No, it’s not. She would have no reason to associate that string of syllables with _you_. Babies don’t inherently know what _dada_ means.”

Jeff let out a breath. “That makes sense.”

Annie noticed his visible sense of relief. She began to twist the teal and pink pillow as she felt the need to continue to put him at ease. “She doesn’t think you’re her daddy, you know. She has a daddy.”

He nodded, staring at Sophie as she began to come off her laughter high. He wiped some tears from her face with a tissue before giving her a kiss and placing her in a standing position on the floor. “There you go, munchkin.”   He glanced over at Annie. “Right. And what does she call that _wonderful gentleman_?”

Annie hesitated as she patted the pillow and moved it to the side. “I’ve been trying to get her to call him daddy.”

“You mean, _dada_.”

She pulled her legs up to her chest, leaning her chin on her knees. “I guess.”

“And does she?”

Annie spoke softly and carefully as she locked eyes with him. “Not yet. But see that’s part of why she’s been saying those syllables. She’s been saying them even when you’re not around….”

Jeff sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “You just said it doesn’t mean anything to her. Yet clearly you have been teaching her that it _does_.”

Annie moved her legs out and then sat up and crossed them under her so that she could lean in closer to him. “Yes, for her _father_. Again, she doesn’t know what _dada_ means. Eventually I’d like her to associate it with him. But right now she doesn’t see him often enough for that to make any sense to her. So I think she’s just randomly saying it.”

Jeff cleared his throat as he handed Sophie her bear. He was careful to keep his tone breezy so as not to upset her. “And yet I spend significantly more time with her than he does.”

Annie looked at him, attempting to read his face. She suspected he was intentionally keeping a neutral expression.   “I know.”

“And I’ve known her since she was eight weeks old.   Way longer than he has.” He patted Sophie lightly on the head, careful not to disrupt her curls.

Annie felt her voice catch. “Is that a problem?”

Jeff closed his eyes and mumbled, “Of course not. Goddammit.”

“Jeff?”

He opened his eyes and watched as Sophie toddled over to the beanbag and flung herself onto it in a fit of giggles. He was relieved she didn’t seem to understand what they were discussing.  

He kept his eyes on her as he asked his next question, “What should she call me? We need to come up with something.”

Annie cocked her head to the side as she scooted closer to him. She placed her hand on his arm. “It doesn’t matter. She’ll call you whatever she wants to call you.” She affected a light tone as she continued, “You don’t see me trying to make her call Troy _Uncle Troy_ do you?”

Jeff closed his eyes again and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t think you understand what I’m getting at. I’m not Troy.”

She began to feel more uneasy as she guessed where this was heading. She strongly wished he wouldn’t over think everything, especially when it pertained to Sophie.

She started to feel her stomach drop as she remarked, “I know.”

He kept his eyes closed, a pained expression on his face. “Do you? And I don’t want to be _Uncle Jeff_. That just sounds….”

Annie tapped his arm as she interjected, “It doesn’t matter. She’ll come up with something. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.”

Jeff opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment. “My dad wasn’t a good guy.”

She felt a shiver come over her at the abruptness of this disclosure. “I know.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You’ve alluded to a few things….”

Jeff grimaced as he looked over to her. “You don’t know. And my mom’s boyfriends, while a significant improvement, weren’t that great either. They treated her like crap. And in the best-case scenarios, they just ignored me. But I still had to listen and watch how they treated her. And my dad, well, he was….”

Annie grabbed his hand. “Jeff….”

He looked down at their hands. “I don’t know how to be, you know, a decent person. A _whatever-it-is_ I am to Sophie. You can’t let anything bad happen to her.”

Annie felt tears welling up in her eyes. “You would never hurt her. You know the Thursday thing wasn’t about that, right? Jeff, I _trust_ _you_ with her safety. I always have.   You look out for her. You would never, ever hurt her no matter what your dad did.”

He looked over at Sophie, who was sitting on the floor flipping through one of her baby books. This particular book seemed to make various animals noises, including quacking sounds. He was glad she seemed occupied.

He glanced at Annie and asked softly, “How do you know?”

Annie choked back tears as she firmly stated, “I _know_. I told you last Christmas.   You’re a good guy. Maybe you don’t believe that, but I hope you’ll believe _me_.”

Several beats of silence followed before Jeff got up the nerve to ask his next question, again in a hushed tone, “Then why are you insisting on an open relationship?”

Annie felt her breath catch. She couldn’t understand how he could go from worrying about Sophie’s safety to that. She opened her eyes wide. “Because that’s what _we_ _decided_ was the most practical. We’ve discussed this. You don’t do exclusivity. And that’s okay. I’m glad you were honest with me.”

Jeff let out a long sigh. He figured he’d just throw it out there. “How do you see me being a good guy while sleeping around with other women?”

She furrowed her brow, looking down as she seemed to ponder his question. “I don’t think those things are connected.”  
  
“Oh come on.”

She looked up at him. “They aren’t.   Again, as long as we’re honest with each other. If we had a different arrangement, then that would be a whole other thing. Then you’d be sneaking around. But I can handle a lot if people don’t lie to me. That’s why I think you’re a good guy _and_ we can have an open arrangement.”

Jeff smiled tightly for a moment before he continued “And why do you keep calling it an _arrangement_?”

Annie moved her hand over his and attempted to put him at ease. “I don’t understand why you’re upset. I thought we were on the same page.”

He looked her in the eye and gripped her hand. “Let’s just call it a _relationship_ , Annie.”

Her eyes widened as she startled at his sudden directness. “Relationship?”

He let out a long sigh as he removed his hand and slapped his knee. “Come on, it won’t kill us to use that word, will it?”

Annie looked down and mumbled, “Fine.”

He stared at her in exasperation. “Goddammit. I’m _not_ sleeping with other women.”

She bit her lip as she looked back up. “I know.”

“You do?”

“But see, you _can_.”

He hunched forward, placing his elbows on his knees. He stared off at the wall, shaking his head. “See, you don’t expect things from me. That’s not okay.”

She stared at him, dreading where this conversation was going. She started to feel a panicky sensation, wanting him to just stop.

He continued as he kept his eyes on the wall. “You deserve so much more than that. You are amazing. You deserve someone who adores you and puts you above all of that other crap.”

Annie felt the sensation of something pushing up from her chest as her mouth began to quiver. “I’m fine. It’s all fine. I like what we have.”

He shook his head, continuing to avoid her gaze. “I never pictured myself with kids. Not after what I went through. I just didn’t see how that could be a pleasant experience. And yet here _you_ are with a kid.”

Annie nodded as she felt tears begin to flow freely down her face. “Okay.”

He watched Sophie as she tossed the book aside and grabbed Ruthie. He said in a softer voice, “Did you know I found one of her rice puffs in my Lexus the other day? It was stuck in between two of the back cushions.”

“Jeff…”

“Right next to where we put her carseat when I drive you guys.   Do you know how many hours I’ve probably spent putting that damn thing in my car? We keep moving it back and forth…”

Annie felt her voice shake, “So is this it, then?”

Jeff suddenly turned and looked at her. He was startled to see her face was all wet. “Huh?”

Her mouth continued to quiver as she attempted to suppress her sobs. She felt something begin to break inside of her. “You don’t want to do this anymore?”

Jeff’s eyes widened as he hastily explained, “Oh God, no. That’s not what I meant.”

She choked down a sob. “What?!?”

Avoiding her gaze, he muttered under his breath, “I don’t want a fucking _open_ relationship, Annie. And maybe I should just get my own goddamn carseat.”

With that Jeff got up, grabbed his keys, and walked out. 

*******************************

Annie sat in stunned silence for a minute. She didn’t quite know how to process what Jeff had just revealed. Of course she suspected he wasn’t seeing other women. He spent a lot of time with her and she didn’t really see Jeff Winger as the type of guy who’d be out every night. He was way too crabby and solitary to do that all the time even if he pretended he did with most people. But Annie knew she wasn’t most people. Jeff let her into his life in ways he likely never had with anyone else before.

And she knew him well enough to realize he was likely in some sort of anxiety spin right now. It was probably a good thing he left. When he was like this further discussion would not be productive.

She began to let his words sink in. She had been convinced for a few moments that he had been breaking up with her, saying it was all too much. But that’s not what he was saying. She ran through everything he had shared and felt her stomach drop.

_Was he saying he wanted more? That he wanted her to expect more of him?   Was that something they could even do?_

She was roused from her thoughts by Sophie, who earnestly wanted her to join her in playing with her stuffed animals. As Annie scooted off the couch to the floor, Sophie grabbed her bear and toddled off toward the front door where Jeff had gone.

Annie wiped her cheek and got up to fetch her daughter. 

************************

Eventually Jeff came back. It was his apartment, after all. Annie noticed he had been gone for about forty-five minutes. During that time, he sent her one text saying he was going to the grocery store and would be back. He asked that she not leave.

Well at least that was something.

Annie sat on the couch with Sophie cuddled in her arms as she read her a book. She glanced up when he came back. He was lugging a couple bags, which he promptly placed on the kitchen counter.

“Hey.”

Annie smiled weakly. “Hey.”

“So I got some stuff for dinner. I know I said we’d order in but I realized I owe you a home cooked meal. Well probably zillions of them by now, but I’ll start with one.”

She noticed he was avoiding eye contact as he began emptying the bags while prattling on.

“And this way you can’t mock me for my cooking skills. You will not know what hit you. You will be dazzled. You will bow down and apologize for your taunts. You will…”

“That sounds great.”

He stopped as he placed a bunch of basil on the counter. “Oh. Um, yeah.”

“Sophie and I are going to finish her book, and then just let me know if you need my help.”

“I can do this. Let me show you.”

“Okay.”

They didn’t talk over dinner about what had happened. Jeff cooked Annie a tasty pesto-cavatappi meal. Annie, conscious of his vulnerable state, didn’t comment on the fact that he had made liberal use of carbs. The meal was supplemented with grilled chicken and anchovies on the side. Annie admitted she had never tried anchovies before, so she gamely had a taste before proclaiming them too salty. Jeff seemed bemused by the whole thing, and for a few minutes it seemed as if nothing had happened. They were feeling cheerful and he was teasing her, just as he always did. And they made sure to keep the conversation light, both out of a sense of the potential weight subsequent serious conversation might hold as well as the fact that Sophie was sitting there, smooshing her hands happily through her noodles.

Annie didn’t let her try the anchovies. 

***************************

Later Jeff took them back to Dildopolis, insisting on walking them up to Annie’s door. Annie entered the apartment with a drowsing Sophie over her shoulder. She threw her keys on the table and turned to face Jeff.

“Thanks for dinner. You were right. You are a pretty good cook. Not as good as me, but that would be a tall order.”

He smirked, placing his hands in his pockets. “I know. Your modesty astounds me as always.”

She smiled at him.

Jeff felt his heart rate begin to speed up. He took a deep breath as he leaned in the doorway. “I’m sorry about just running off earlier.”

Annie gently placed Sophie down in the playpen, draping her blanket over her. She walked back over to the door and craned her neck so that she could catch his eye. “It’s okay. I appreciated the text to let me know you weren’t leaving the state.”

Jeff chuckled as he rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, I wasn’t _that_ dramatic.”

Annie shook her head. “I didn’t say you were being dramatic. Just spinning out. And I didn’t know how to help you.”

“Help me?”

“You seem to be really caught up in some stuff that I know is a big deal. And if you want we can talk about it. But I want you to know that just because someone did something to you in the past doesn’t mean you will do those things. And again, I know you would never hurt Sophie. And I think deep down you know you wouldn’t either.”

Jeff looked off toward the far wall. “Um hum.”

“And I know you’re worried about a bunch of things with _us_. It sounds as if you’ve been upset about how we’ve defined things.”

He bit his lip, looking at the floor for a moment before he resumed eye contact. He hunched a little bit more in the doorway. “I said a lot of things.”

“Did you mean them?”

There were several beats of silence. Jeff could really hear his heart rate now and was convinced Annie must be able to even if she couldn’t earlier. He closed his eyes.

“Yes.”

She cracked her neck further to gaze up at him. “You want us to be in a relationship?”

He opened his eyes. “We already are, Annie. Let’s just admit it. For god’s sake I have a blue and pink _decorative_ pillow in my apartment.”

She mumbled, “It’s actually teal.”

“Hum?”

She moved on, “And you don’t want us to see other people?”

His eyes widened. “Jesus. I just assumed you weren’t….”

She swatted at him several times with both of her hands. He took his hands out of his pockets and put them up to defend himself as he grinned.

She scoffed. “No, silly. When would I even have the time?”

He was never more relieved she had swatted him. Maybe he hadn’t completely screwed this up.

He let out low laugh. “True.”

Annie wondered if he knew what he was saying. He had been pretty clear in the past with her regarding his self-imposed limitations for relationship availability. She remembered well his other freak out (he seemed to have many) on New Year’s Day when he gave her the rambling speech about how wrong he was for her.

She gulped before she ventured, _“So?”_

He looked at her and expounded with a sense of urgency, “I didn’t mean I wanted anything to change. Maybe we can just be more honest about the whole thing. I’m not seeing other women, and I won’t. I don’t want to. And I guess it’s important to me that you know that.”

Annie nodded slowly as she looked down before resuming eye contact. “This could be a big challenge for you.”

“I thought it would be. But it hasn’t. That’s kinda been the point in bringing this up.”

He noticed her suspicious glare. “Don’t look at me that way. I know, it’s been a shocker for me as well.”

She punched him lightly in the shoulder. “Ugh! You are impossible.”

She then pushed her head against his chest as he wrapped an arm around her. She was aware of feeling a mixture of frustration and immense relief.

He gave her a kiss on the top of her head. “Okay, well, think about it. I’m gonna go. And regardless, I’ll still watch Sophie on Thursdays.’   He smiled tightly as she looked up.

She took a moment to appreciate his expression. Despite her initial misgivings, she knew she believed him.

“You said a lot about Sophie. And her father.”

He shrugged. “Sorry. I guess hearing her say all those _random syllables_ earlier just brought up something I think we’re going to have to face sooner or later.”

Annie let out a long sigh. “It’s impossible to know though. What will happen with her and her father. Or what will happen with you and me. And I don’t think we need to…”

“Annie, I know I tend to jump ahead. It served me well as a lawyer. And your past accusations of my paranoia are probably not ill-founded. But I maintain that we need to carefully consider…”

“Stop talking like a lawyer. Just shut up and stay.” 

“Maybe we should just let this settle and you think about it…”

Annie felt exasperated. “Jeff, I tend to have concerns about trusting my own judgment but look, you’ve convinced me. I’ll admit we _have_ been in a relationship. And so far it’s been something I’ve really enjoyed. Outside of Sophie and maybe my fancy new purple pens, it’s been my favorite thing.”

He chuckled.

She continued, “And I know it’s kind of an illusion that I can’t get hurt again if we keep it _open_. That was pretty obvious to me earlier tonight when I realized that I _would_ be hurt if we broke up.”

“God, I’m sorry I gave you that impre…”

“Please. Let me finish. What that made me also realize is that I can’t control everything. And I really like you. And I don’t want you to see other women. So if you don’t want to either then I think that’s something I can get behind.”

Jeff nodded as he cleared his throat. “So I guess we really try then?”

“I guess.”

“Sounds good.”

She began pulling him into the apartment.   “Get in here, you big doofus.”

“I probably need to attend to Thanos, but I’ll be right back.”

“He knows you’re good for it.”

“True.”

Despite essentially agreeing that nothing needed to change, that they were merely being more honest with each other about what it was they were already doing, they both seemed to sense everything had changed.

And Jeff was pretty sure his next big purchase would be a carseat.

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Implications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff and Annie are in a relationship

Thursday rolled around, and Jeff strolled toward the campus daycare center. On his walk, he reflected on the past two days. He and Annie had their talk Tuesday night, and ever since then things seemed to be more relaxed between them.

He had ended up spending the night, running back to his place in the morning for a wardrobe change before heading to Greendale. They made it through Wednesday, with Jeff trying his best not to stare too much at Annie’s blue cardigan during study group. They had lunch with the rest of the Greendale Seven and made lighthearted banter, sitting across from one another. Then Annie left campus to work in the afternoon. And they spent Wednesday evening apart, as Annie needed to get a jump on an assignment for one of her classes. Today they had study group in the morning followed by separate classes, with barely thirty minutes overlap to see each other during lunch. And then Pierce was present.

So maybe they hadn’t really _talked_ much since Tuesday evening, but they had both briefly verbally reconfirmed they were on the same page regarding the relationship thing. And Jeff felt that was a pretty positive outcome so far. He didn’t really know much more he wanted to say about it at present. It had been exhausting enough talking about it on Tuesday. And Annie hadn’t seemed that eager to delve back into it either, while at the same time being affectionate and warm toward him. Overall, he was feeling good about where things stood between them.

Despite things going well with Annie, Jeff was noticing a nauseous feeling whenever he thought about Sophie eventually calling Adam _dada._ Not that he necessarily wanted her to call _him_ that, but he just felt the jerk didn’t deserve it. But he knew it really wasn’t any of his business. And Annie was probably right that Sophie shouldn’t call her own father by his first name. That would be weird.

Of course Adam didn’t really act like much of a father anyway.

And here he was going to get Sophie from daycare. That was a very _fatherly_ thing to do. No, he scoffed to himself. Shirley could be doing this. And then they would say she was just helping, right? That’s what he was doing.   And he just happened to be dating Sophie’s mother.

Dating. Right. Relationship. Non-open relationship. Monogamous. Right.

They hadn’t yet made any decisions regarding what they were telling other people. Or not telling them. He supposed they needed to talk about that at some point. But it had been a weird couple days.

He recalled feeling dazed as Annie had climbed on top of him in her bed Tuesday night. Well technically it had been Wednesday morning. Not that he usually thought of three am as _morning_. He could recall plenty of times when he had stumbled into bed at that hour. But Annie had been insistent, assuring him in hushed tones that the baby hobbit was conked out and wouldn’t be up for at least a couple hours. She explained it was the perfect time when they didn’t have to worry about her waking up. Past Jeff would have balked at the idea of being roused from sleep at that hour, but current Jeff, _whoever the hell he was these days_ , hastily agreed and they took things further than they ever had in Annie’s bedroom. And they did it damn quietly, and dare he say, discreetly. As much as past Jeff likely would have found the whole thing unnerving, current Jeff seized the opportunity to meld with Annie. He had been aching to do so since she had asked him to stay.

Afterward he had felt like a naughty schoolboy who had gotten away with something. It had been pretty hot.

Was that weird? He supposed it might be a little. He told himself it was okay, it was pitch dark in the room at that hour, the scarves were up, and the kid was out cold.

Maybe he could get Annie one of those dressing screens. Yeah, that might be better. They’d still have to be really quiet, though.

What the hell had they done? He’d blame his disorientation from the sleep. And she seduced him. It would have been in poor form to turn her down. And holding her afterward had been really nice…

He felt his face flush as he recognized a potentially identity-threatening fact. He was a _cuddler_. Goddammit.

He shook his head as he arrived at the daycare center. He successfully collected Sophie and her things, which he realized these days included her pink blanket she was clutching when he arrived.   Jackie explained to him that Sophie wasn’t allowed to have her stuffed animals with her during the day as then the other kids might get jealous and try to take them so they made sure the kids shared toys when they were there. Although he supposed that made sense, the whole thing didn’t sit right with him. He felt she really should have her bear with her. Luckily he discovered it in Annie’s gear bag she gave him earlier in the day between classes. He handed Sophie the bear and carried her off toward the student lounge.

As he walked with her, he felt his stomach settling. Yes, this was perfectly fine, he told himself. She was smiley and excited to see him. And it was only for an hour. He had been alone with her before, mostly when Annie was sleeping or running off to talk to a professor for a few minutes or something. He could do this. And it didn’t mean he was acting as her _father._

He frowned as he considered he still needed to figure something out. Was he Annie’s boyfriend? What does that mean to the kid? Mommy’s boyfriend? He started to feel his thoughts looping again….

“Whoa there, Winger, I haven’t seen you in days.”

Jeff sighed as he continued walking, Ian Duncan scuttling to catch up to him and maintain the pace of Jeff’s long stride.

“I’ve been in class. Or eating. Or something.”

“Well we should catch up. I can see you have your hands full but maybe we can go to happy hour?”

Jeff stopped and turned to face Ian. “Even you know I can’t take her to happy hour.”

Ian placed a hand on his own chest. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I merely meant once you hand her off to her mum you and I can go down _to the Dirty Cowgirl like old times._ ” Ian tickled Sophie’s chin as he uttered the last few words in a sing-songy voice.

It was kinda creepy.

“Last semester was not _old times_. And Annie’s not done with class until five thirty.” Jeff pulled up his watch to check the time. “It’s four fifteen. Speaking of, it’s a little early for happy hour, isn’t it?”

“Never, my friend. As I recall you’ve been with me at the Dirty Cowgirl at a much earlier hour.”

“Don’t remind me.” Jeff turned to resume walking toward the lounge. Ian doggedly persisted, chuckling as he bounded by Jeff’s side.

“So does this mean you’re the babysitter now, Winger? And did she enjoy that gift…”

Jeff stopped again and turned to face Ian. He lowered his voice. “We had a deal. You aren’t to speak of that. And after you touched them, I burned them. So don’t get any sick fantasies of her wearing them.”

“I don’t know why you’d think that…”

“Oh cut it out.” Jeff resumed walking, entering the student lounge. He noted several students were scattered about and was relieved when he spotted an empty couch with a small table. He made a beeline for it, setting down Sophie’s things before sinking into the furniture.

Ian perched himself on the arm of the couch as he wiggled his eyebrows. “So do I take that as confirmation then? They were for Big Boobs?”

Jeff avoided Ian’s stare as he placed Sophie carefully to his left, handing her the blanket, which she promptly pulled toward her mouth. “I’m not discussing this.”

“Well, well. Not that I am at all surprised.” He leaned in and lowered his voice, “I can be discreet. You wouldn’t believe what people have told me in my office.”

Jeff let out a long frustrated sigh as he glanced over to Ian. “You’re a licensed therapist. Aren’t you _required_ to be discreet?”

Ian nodded manically. “It still counts though. I can keep a secret! For instance, I haven’t said a word to Dorie about any of my suspicions. And why, pray tell have I not told a worried mum what her son has been up to? Because I am a good friend.”

“Riiight.” Jeff rolled his eyes.

“Word of advice, Winger. Tell your mum. I’m pretty sure she already knows. Put her out of her misery.”

Jeff redirected his attention to the baby hobbit. He frowned as he noticed she was sucking her thumb. _Daycare is a petri dish. Did someone wash her hands?_

He was aware Ian was still droning on.

“And it will help me if I could be less evasive with her. It’s starting to damage our camaraderie.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I don’t care about your and my mother’s _camaraderie_. It’s f-- f _rickin’_ bizarre as it is.   And she doesn’t need to know anything. Cause it really doesn’t matter.”

Ian’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa there. Why keep it from her? You know she doesn’t care about the age difference. She’d be just tickled you found someone.”

Jeff grimaced. “See this is what I mean. She’s obsessed with me _finding someone._ She’d just start leaping ahead and it would be too much pressure.”

Ian nodded and remarked sarcastically, “I see. Because that’s what she’s done with all of the other women you’ve introduced her to throughout the years.”

“See that’s what makes it worse. She’d really latch onto it because I never tell her these things. So I’m not about to start now.”

Ian sighed. “That actually makes a bit of sense. But you can’t keep it from her forever, you know. And I would think you wouldn’t want to, unless you’re envisioning this as a short-term gig?” He motioned his head over to Sophie who was staring at Jeff with a wide grin.

“Shut up.”

Sophie threw the bear on Jeff’s lap as she started saying, “ _dedededede.”_

Jeff raised an eyebrow at her.

Ian continued on, oblivious. “One day you should listen to me, Jeffrey.   And we do really need to catch up, but not here.  And definitely not in front of _her_. There are glasses with our names on them just down the street. And I need to tell you about how the restraining order is going….”

Jeff affected a bored tone. “Yes, I’d be _delighted_ to hear about it. I just can’t tonight.”

“Oh you know you want to know. Don’t pretend. Plus, did I tell you something has really been stinking up my psychology classroom? It’s the foulest odor I’ve ever encountered. I asked maintenance to do a thorough cleaning, but it didn’t do much. The stench is horrific.”

Jeff shook his head as he pushed the bear toward Sophie. “As fascinating as this is, I really need to keep an eye on the kid. And I don’t think she cares about your smelly psychology problems.”

Ian raised his voice pitifully, “It could be a Greendale health emergency. Maybe you could use your analytical skills to help me get to the bottom of it…”

Jeff interjected, “You know, maybe we should talk about your mysterious _side adventures_.” He grimaced for a second, realizing he had been spending too much time with Abed. He continued, “It didn’t get past me that you’ve been texting someone all summer.”

He didn’t think Ian could get any paler. He fought the urge to yell _Booyah_ in front of the entire student lounge. He paused before he continued, “And if it were my _mom_ , you would have rubbed it in my face rather than have thrown your phone underneath your convalescence pillow whenever I came back in the room with your precious ice.”

Ian began pulling at his collar, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. “I have a very robust and vivacious sex life, you know. I was sex texting. It’s a thing the kids are doing these days…”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “If that were the case, you would have left your phone out, _not very discreetly I might add_ , so that I would be sure to see it.   You’re hiding something.”

Ian cleared his throat. “I have to go.”

“You don’t say.”

Ian scuttled off toward the teacher’s lounge.

Jeff turned to Sophie. “Well that was thrilling. What should we do, munchkin?”

“Hi.”

“Oh, um. Hi.” 

*************************

Annie spied Sophie and Jeff as she entered the student lounge. She felt a tingly sensation in her chest as she took in the scene of Jeff holding Sophie by the hand as he leaned _way over_ and carefully and slowly walked Sophie around the periphery of the room.   The height difference would have been comical if it weren’t so adorable. She caught the expression on his face and could only describe it as a mixture of giddiness and awe.

Her heart may have skipped a beat. She pulled herself together and glanced around the lounge to see if anyone was looking at her and may have taken notice of her reaction. To her relief and then growing irritation, she observed that several female coeds were watching Jeff with Sophie. And they were not making their admiration very discreet. She distinctly heard various _ooohing_ and _awwwing_ sounds.

Annie Edison was the only one who was allowed to _awwwww_. It was kind of her thing.

She cast a glare over to an attractive brunette who was watching as she yanked on her oblivious male friend’s arm.

She half-wondered if Jeff was playing this all up and basking in the attention. He would do something like that.   He was a bit of an egomaniac. A kind of adorkable and sexy egomaniac. Her mind flashed back to Wednesday at three am.   She flushed. _Okay, pull it together, Edison._

She smiled wide as she greeted Sophie who promptly let go of Jeff’s hand and reached for her mother with a squeal.

Annie and Jeff were careful not to greet each other _too_ warmly in front of everyone in the student lounge. Although none of the study group members were present, the Greendale gossip mill was always churning. And they hadn’t yet discussed who was to know what and when.

All they did know was that they had some errands to run.

“So how did things go?” Annie turned to Jeff as she picked up Sophie.

Jeff raised his eyebrows as he suppressed a grin. “Oh, it was fine. We successfully warded off Ian and then she had a snack. Well, she had two snacks actually. I have no idea if that was okay but she kept insisting….”

Annie interjected, “It’s fine, Jeff. She’s probably hungry since it’s dinnertime. And I don’t really want her melting down here with you. Whatever you needed to do to keep her happy, I’m fine with it.”

“Oh, okay.”

Annie continued in a gentle voice as she gave Sophie a kiss. “And she seemed pleased with the walking practice.”

Jeff shrugged. “Yeah, she didn’t really want to sit still and I thought it couldn’t do any harm in getting a few laps in. Not that we made it that far. She’s not that fast.”

Annie laughed. “She’s a lot shorter than you, remember. You two looked ridiculously cute. I watched you for a couple minutes from the doorway.”

Jeff cheeks reddened for a moment as he turned to put away Sophie’s things. “Yeah, well, don’t spy on us.   She’s fine. I didn’t break her.”

Annie reached over and lightly touched his arm. “I know. I just thought you guys were sweet. I wasn’t checking up on you.”

“Oh okay.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, sure.” 

*************************

Jeff turned to Annie as they approached her car.

“So, I’ll follow you guys over to the diner? We’ll make sure she eats and then we’ll go over to the place? And we’ll get the goddamn thing? I’d pick it out myself, but I don’t want to get the wrong kind of…”

Annie reached up to place her hand over his mouth. “Yes, of course. We talked about this, remember?   It’ll be easy.”

She heard him mumble something. She removed her hand.

“Right?”

“I didn’t understand what you said.”

“Oh. The gate-thingy. And the cage-thingy.”

“You mean a baby gate for your kitchen?” She opened up the car door and began placing Sophie in the back.

He nodded. “Yeah. She got into my cabinets. I am not going to completely reorganize my kitchen, Annie.”

“Good idea. What do you mean by cage-thingy?” She furrowed her brow as she concentrated on fastening Sophie into the carseat.

“You know, the pack-n-cage thing you always bring over. You shouldn’t have to do that. I can just keep one at my place.”

She moved out of the car, turning to him with narrowed eyes. “It’s called a pack-n- _play_. Or a _play_ pen.”

He scoffed. “Oh come one, Annie. It doesn’t seem very _playful_. We just throw her in there when she’s drowsy or we’re desperate.”

She swatted him. “Jeff!”

Sophie emitted a series of _‘dedededede’_ noises.

Annie sighed. “Fine. We’ll go get the pack-n- _cage_ too.”

He smirked as he placed his hands in his pockets. “Okay, that sounds like a mouthful. I think we should refer to it as the _cagepen_.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Get in your car and follow me, Mister.”

“Will do.” 

*******************************

By the weekend, Jeff was feeling particularly pleased with himself. Not only had he successfully installed his own goddamn carseat, but also he was able to convince Annie to finally schedule an evening at Nancy’s place for Friday. Part of him was looking forward to just picking up Annie and plopping the baby hobbit right into the carseat. It would save them so much time. And then they could just do this whole thing with Nancy, with Jeff being his charming self and Nancy feeling reassured. And then Annie could stop fretting about whatever it was she was worried about. Jeff knew Nancy’s opinion meant a lot to Annie. And he had a hunch Nancy already liked him.

And even Thanos approved of Jeff’s goddamn carseat.

“Oooohhh….about time, man. Hey, this is a nice one.” Thanos leaned over into the backseat of the Lexus as Jeff stood there nodding.

“Yeah, Annie helped me pick it out.”

“Do you want me to check to make sure it’s installed correctly? Here, I can…”

“I did it. I’ve done it so many times. It’s fine.”

Thanos shrugged. “No problem.”

Jeff frowned. “Wait, maybe since I’m not moving it out it probably couldn’t hurt to have another pair of eyes on it.”

Thanos chuckled. “Yeah, man.” He spent a minute going over the buckles and testing the seat by tugging on it. He then emerged from the backseat. “It’s good.”

“Thanks.”

Thanos eyed Jeff’s expression. “It’s okay. The kid will be safe back there.”

Jeff scoffed. “Yeah, I know.”

Thanos shook his head. “You don’t have anything to worry about. And hey I’m impressed. Not even that kid’s own father does this stuff for her. That dude doesn’t even have a carseat. He doesn’t take her anywhere. He just comes over here once in awhile for like an hour and then leaves.”

Jeff took in a long breath before he decided to venture into this territory. He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know. “So you’ve met him?”

“Of course. Not much gets past me.”

Jeff nodded. “It’s just you’ve never said anything about him. You’re always talking about the hippie.”

Thanos appeared to ponder Jeff’s statement for a moment before he responded. “That’s because I know that dude is around for the long haul. What’s the point in mentioning him to you? The hippie, now that was a different story. And look you did it.” He grinned as he slapped Jeff on the back.

Jeff let out a quick laugh. “Yeah.” He frowned as decided to keep going with this line of inquiry. He wasn’t sure what was getting into him these days with his tendency to ask questions. But he continued anyway, “Just out of curiosity, what’s the other guy like?”

Thanos avoided his eyes for a moment as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He then looked up at the sky. He cleared his throat. “Dude is kind of an ass. He’s all uppity and shit. You can just tell he thinks he’s better than this place. The dude won’t even shake my hand.”

Jeff nodded as he glanced around the parking lot, feeling his stomach begin to twist in knots.

“And he’ll give me a little something to watch his car, but he doesn’t do it with any _grace_ , man. And I keep a look out for his Mercedes. No one touches it.”

Jeff’s attention snapped back to Thanos. “Mercedes?   Wait…what?!? I thought he was having financial difficulties.”

Thanos shrugged. “He may be. That’s what Annie tells my wife. But let me tell you, if that dude sold his car, he’d wouldn’t have so many money problems. And maybe he could give a little to Annie so that she didn’t have to live in a place like this.”

“Wait…”

“That girl has a lot of pride. It’s like she’s afraid if she asks for too much the dude is going to bolt and never see his kid again. My wife’s trying to talk some sense into her. But who knows?”

If he weren’t so near the Lexus, Jeff might have punched the nearest thing. He closed his eyes.

Thanos looked at him as he added, “She deserves a good life. Don’t mess it up.”

Jeff grimaced. “I’ll try not to.” 

***************************

Jeff was correct in his assumption that everything would go well at Nancy’s place on Friday evening.

He hit it off with Ryan, who appeared to be around his age. Jeff discovered the up-until-now mysterious Ryan was a tall, laidback, flannel-wearing guy who managed a record store. Jeff was conscious of the fact that in his life before Greendale he would likely never have associated with someone like him. He realized he probably wouldn’t have even given the guy a chance, likely dismissing him as a slacker. He was acutely and uncomfortably aware that right now Ryan was the one who actually had a full time job and he was the one whose life had fallen apart.

Ryan warmly greeted Jeff with a beer and the two of them spent some time chatting as Ryan prepared dinner. Annie and Nancy wandered off to the living room with Sophie.

“So they’ll be in there talking about you now.”

Jeff smirked. “I figured. Isn’t that why I’m here? For observation?”

Ryan chuckled as he chopped some carrots. “You’re a smart one. Don’t worry too much about it. We just want to get to know you, is all. Nancy has a duty as Annie’s sponsor to keep an eye on her.”  
  
“Yeah, I noticed she’s pretty protective.”

Ryan sighed. “She is. She sees so much of herself in Annie, you know. This whole sponsoring thing has done her a world of good. I think she figures this time she can do things right. You know, if Annie can do it. It’ll help her heal.”

Jeff puzzled as to what exactly Ryan meant. “Yeah, I figured since she was Annie’s sponsor she’s been through some stuff too.”

Ryan nodded as he filled a pot with water and set it on the stove to boil. “Of course. I didn’t know her back then. I’m kind of like you that way, getting to know her after the whole addiction thing.”

Jeff nodded as he began to pick at the label of his beer.

Ryan continued, “We didn’t meet until a little bit before Annie showed up, actually. Nancy found her at an NA meeting and just brought her home one night. I’m sure Annie told you all about it.”

Jeff frowned. “Not really. I mean, no details.” Jeff realized with some sense of guilt that he had never asked.

Ryan gabbed on as if reading his mind, putting him at ease. “ Well, I’m sure she would if you just ask her. Those two hit it off pretty quickly. It was really important for Nancy to help her. I wasn’t living here back then, but then Nancy and I got more serious and well, I still feel a little bad about it. But Nancy and Annie insist it wasn’t my fault, that the wheels were in motion as they say before I moved in.”

“What wasn’t your fault?”

“That Annie needed to move out. With Sophie. I moved in when Sophie was like six weeks old. It was crowded here but we could have made it work or maybe we could have found a bigger place. But Annie said she wanted to be on her own. And Nancy honored that of course. She said Annie probably did need to prove to herself she could do it.”

Jeff continued to nod slowly as he let this information sink in. It was consistent with what he knew of Annie that she wouldn’t want to rely on others for too long before she got anxious and wanted to flee. He remembered how resistant she had been about Troy and Pierce’s offer to have her move in.

Ryan continued, “But of course Nancy’s been hovering around. She babysits Sophie so Annie can work. And I know if anything bad happened, she’d take Annie and Sophie back in. And heck, I’d move out if it meant Annie would be homeless again.”

Jeff let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He ventured a question he had been wondering about for a little while, “When did Annie move in here? Before or after Sophie?”

Ryan shook his head as he let out a low whistle. “Wow. She hasn’t really told you much about it, huh? “

Jeff shrugged.

“Nancy found her when Annie was about four months along. She was just being discharged from rehab and had no place to go. She found a job and was here like six months. Nancy was with her and everything when she gave birth to Sophie.”

Jeff closed his eyes and leaned forward over his beer. “Thank god.”

Ryan glanced over to him. “I know, right? See that’s part of what made me fall in love with Nancy so quickly. She’s great. To watch her be with Annie like that, it made me really respect her. I just don’t want her to burn herself out. So I try to help her chill out, you know?”

Jeff felt his voice crack, “Are you ever worried that she’ll get back on whatever it was she was addicted to?”

“You mean relapse?”

“Yeah.”

Ryan eyed Jeff with sympathy. “No actually. She’s done a lot of work on herself. She knows who she is. And while she’s been through hell she’s strong. And more importantly, she knows what she needs to do to help herself.   She’s more self-aware than I could ever be. And I know you’re worried about Annie. But so far she hasn’t slipped up. And Nancy doesn’t really think she will. But hey, between the three of us we’ll make sure, okay?”

Jeff nodded as he took another sip of his beer.

Ryan sat down at the table as he pulled out a stack of index cards. He looked at Jeff intently. “So enough of that. Let’s get started. Welcome to your first interview.”

He laughed as he flashed the cards as empty and pushed them over to the side.

Jeff snorted.

“Tell me about yourself.” 

*****************

After a successful and friendly dinner, Jeff lay on the floor as Sophie climbed over him.

“That’s the laziest way I’ve seen you play with her yet.” Annie narrowed her eyes as she sat on the couch.

Jeff replied from behind his closed eyes. “Hey, don’t knock it. Ryan made so much food, I can’t keep my eyes open. And she doesn’t mind.”

Sophie put her hands on Jeff’s mouth and giggled while he mumbled.

Ryan smiled as he got up to go back into the kitchen.

Nancy turned to look at Annie, noticing she was in the process of taking out her phone.

Annie snapped a picture of Sophie smacking her hand on Jeff’s face. She grinned as she tucked the phone away.

Nancy smirked.

Annie mouthed silently, “ _What?”_

Nancy shook her head as she chuckled. 

*******************

Dorie sat in front of her computer at a small desk near her kitchen. She adjusted her glasses as she scrolled through her facebook feed. She pursed her lips when she encountered a picture of her almost unconscious-looking son with that adorable Sophie on his chest. The child appeared to be laughing while putting her hand over his mouth and nose. There my have been a hint of a grin from her son’s face.

It appeared Annie had posted the photo the previous evening. The caption read, “My daughter certainly knows how to harass people. Especially grouches.”

Abed Nadir and Troy Barnes liked this.

Dorie let out a long and wearied sigh as she placed her forehead on the desk. Keeping her head down, she reached for her phone.

 


	12. Accounting for Annie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie runs into her past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit angsty. Will post the next chapter within a day or two so as not to leave you all hanging too long. 
> 
> Thanks always for comments, reviews, and feedback. :)

Annie turned on her side as she caressed Jeff’s jaw.

“I like it. Keep it up.”

Jeff smirked at her, running his hand along her naked body and over her hip. He let it linger there.

“Shall I go all Grizzly Adams on you now? I could do it. Just give me some time.”

She rolled her eyes. “I said I like _scruff_ , not the mountain man look. Although if anyone could pull it off it’d be you.” She reached down to pull the top sheet over their bodies, feeling the slight chill in the air.

“Awwww….”

She lightly swatted his chest. “Don’t mock me. I just get enthusiastic.”

“That’s one thing I really like about you, actually.”

“Awwww….”

It was Jeff’s turn to roll his eyes. But he didn’t. Instead he leaned in for a soft kiss. After a few moments, he pulled back.

He cleared his throat and looked away. “So, um…. now that we’ve gotten through an entire week of being in a _relationship,_ we should probably address something.”

Annie gave a long sigh. “Jeeffff….. Can we please not do this now? We don’t have a lot of time. We should be getting back to campus. It’s the middle of the day on a _Wednesday_. People are going to notice we snuck off.”

He groaned as he moved onto his back. “That’s kind of what I’m getting at. I know we had a bunch of stuff to figure out last week, and then you attacked me most of the weekend during naptime…”

“I did not! Just on Sunday. I worked Saturday.” She pouted.

Suppressing a grin, he continued, “ _Anyway_ , what I mean is that we should probably figure out what we’re telling or not telling people.   I should probably also tell you that Ian knows.” He moved back onto his side so that he could see her face.

Annie moved in closer, placing a kiss on his neck. She began to let her hand wander. “I’m surprised you told him.”

“I didn’t. He figured it out.” Jeff was conscious that he might very well get distracted. Again.

Annie’s eyes widened as she clenched the sheet with _both_ hands. “Oh! Does this mean he told your mom? She sent me a text the other day about Sophie, but she didn’t say anything about…”

“No, he swore he hasn’t told her. Says he won’t.” Although slightly disappointed Annie had stopped whatever it is she started, he felt he should probably be present during this conversation.

Annie bit her lip, looking at him tentatively. “Do you want to tell her?”

Jeff sighed. “Okay, this might sound bad. But I don’t mean it to be. I really don’t think we should. Not right now.   You’re the only woman I’ve ever brought home to meet her and I don’t want her putting any pressure on things.”

Annie frowned. “I don’t think she would do that.”

“Oh come on! You know how my mom is.”

“What I mean is that I think she gets that my situation is, shall we say, _complicated._ And I don’t see her pushing us into anything.”

“I disagree.”

Annie looked down as she began to twist the edge of the crumpled top sheet with one hand. “I wish my mom were like your mom. She didn’t cut you off. She _forgave_ you. We shouldn’t hide things from her.”

Jeff rubbed his thumb over her cheek. “Trust me, I know my mom. Let’s just hold off.”

Annie frowned again, continuing to look down. She replied softly, “Okay.”

“Good.” He hesitated, “But what about the group? Do we say anything? I should also tell you I think Pierce knows.”

She glanced up in surprise. “He does?”

“Maybe he’s forgotten by now. Not that anyone listens to him much anyway.”

Annie hesitated, taking a deep breath. “I’m not ready to tell anyone else yet. I know you and Britta are _technically_ fine, but I dunno, I was talking to her the other day and I still feel weird about it. Like she’s going to misunderstand. And I just don’t want to hurt her.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t love me.”

Annie pressed her head against his chest. “This isn’t about _you_. This is about me and Britta. First I dated her ex, and now you.” She moved her head back so that she could look him in the eye.   “And she told me you guys did it during _paintball_ by the way. Real classy.”

Jeff closed his eyes as he cringed. “Can we please not talk about that while we’re in my bed? And why the hell did she tell you?”

“Cause she doesn’t know we’re in a _relationship_. And can you imagine what she would think if we told her now? She’d be pretty embarrassed in telling me that.”

His eyes popped open. “Wait. So you don’t care about the paintball….”

She not-so-lightly swatted him on his upper chest. “No! But I don’t want to talk about it. Ever again, I might add.”

“Then stop talking about it in my bed.”

“Fine.”

“So when are we telling people?”

Annie sighed. “I don’t know. Why don’t we give it a few weeks and discuss it again? You know, let things settle down. And I’ll see where things are with Britta.”

Jeff nodded. “What about Shirley? She’ll murder me. We should carefully time this one.”

“Probably. Let’s revisit in October?” She looked at him sheepishly.

“Sounds good.”

Annie took a deep breath. “And I really think we should tell your mom soon, and _before_ we tell the others. She’s your _mom_ , Jeff. And I can’t tell _my_ mom.”

“Annie….” He was conscious of feeling like a jerk. Of course Annie didn’t have a mom she could tell things to. And here he was shutting his mom out. It probably was confusing. He continued, attempting to clarify, “I’m not trying to keep _you_ a secret, you know. I just don’t want her to interfere.”

“Well I’m hardly a _secret_ , Jeff. She already knows me. I just don’t want to lie to her. She hasn’t asked me, but what if she does? It’s way too stressful keeping things from her. I really hate it.”

Jeff noticed there was a hint of wetness in Annie’s eyes. He was puzzled but wasn’t sure how to address it. Instead he shrugged. “Revisit October?”

Annie nodded softly, wiping something away from her eye. “Okay.”

Jeff grabbed Annie and pulled her in close. He smelled her hair. “I don’t even know who I am these days. You confuse me.”

“Hm?” Annie kissed his chest and glanced up with a smile.

“I told you before I don’t _cuddle_ , and yet here we are. I seem to be _cuddling_ quite a bit these days.”

Annie mumbled into this chest, “I think you’ve always been a cuddler, Jeff. You just didn’t have anyone to cuddle.”

She noticed the long period of silence that followed. Although tempted to look back up at him, she decided to let him have whatever moment he was having.

And she was pretty sure she hadn’t said the wrong thing when he pulled her in tighter. 

*****************

“So, rumor has it you’ve been using Sophie as chick bait.”

Jeff inwardly startled at Britta’s words. Outwardly, he affected a nonchalant demeanor, responding dryly, “What pray tell are you referring to?”

Britta narrowed her eyes as she looked at him from across the coffee table in the student lounge. She motioned her arms out wide. “I’m referring to this place. The past two Thursdays. You’re the talk of the ladies’ room.”

Jeff grinned at her as he glanced up from his phone. “What can I say? I can’t help it if I’m being admired for merely doing my civic duty in watching a poor child whose mother is stuck in an ill-timed class. At _Greendale_.”

She shook her head. “See you always have an agenda. It would be too good to be true if you were watching Sophie out of the _goodness and kindness_ of your heart. Annie seems to think you’re doing her a favor, but see _I know_.” Britta stuck her index finger out in the air.

“Now Britta, didn’t you once say Sophie and I were cute?” He resumed ‘texting’ on his phone as he spoke.

“Yeah, but…”

“So we both can’t help it, now can we? And if the ladies of Greendale happen to like watching us together, then who am I to get in the way of their enjoyment?”

“Pig.”

Jeff let out a low laugh. “Sophie and I are buddies.”

“That’s because she feeds your ego. Poor kid doesn’t know any better.”

Jeff suddenly felt something shift in his chest. He stopped hitting random buttons on his phone and stared at the screen.

Britta raised her eyebrows, a concerned expression coming over her face. “Jeff? Look, all I was saying…”

Jeff looked up and smiled tightly. “Sure, I’m a jerk. Kid doesn’t know. Yada yada yada. Real psychological insight, Britta. Wow.” He bounced his upper body from side to side as he looked off to the far wall.

Britta stared at him, noticing the strangest look she had ever seen on his face. It was almost like he was in physical pain but attempting to stoically rein it in. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. It’s just you and me… we’re not baby people. We’re not the type of people who become parents. We can barely look out for ourselves. So color me surprised when I heard you were watching Sophie _by yourself_.”

Jeff continued to regard the far wall and squinted. “I’ve always thought there would be no finer honor than to raise a kid. Not that _I_ would do it. But I get it.”

Britta perked up her ears. “An _honor_?”

He shrugged. “My dad was a prick. He threw away the honor he had in raising me. And this isn’t some sort of egocentric rant, by the way. It’s true. Kids deserve to have people in their lives who care about them and don’t leave them at the zoo.”

Britta felt her eyes begin to water. “The zoo?”

He turned his gaze back to her, a blank expression on his face. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Sophie needs someone to be with her on Thursdays for a little while and that person _cannot be Pierce_. So yours truly volunteered. And again, if the ladies like to watch, who am I to deny them the experience?”

Britta nodded as she noticed Jeff’s posture resume its usual cockiness. He leaned back on the chair and yawned slightly as he scanned the room. He then excused himself to go to the restroom, making semi-sarcastic remarks about his study books possibly being stolen while he was away unless Britta took it upon herself to _watch them_.

It wasn’t until he had been gone a couple minutes that Britta realized he had left his phone on the table. With some alarm, she realized that he must have been pretty flustered to leave it behind. Out of curiosity and channeling her inner-Shirley she grabbed it and clicked it. On the Blackberry home screen was the picture he had posted to his facebook this summer of Sophie in the hairdresser chair with Annie leaned in next to her.

Britta smiled softly and gently placed the phone back on the table. 

*******************

Jeff was experiencing a mixture of intense anger and worry. He had no idea where Annie had gone. And it was all _Alan’s_ fault, he was sure of it.  

It had all started with Annie recognizing Alan from one of her NA meetings and realizing that he had been the one to rat Jeff out to the Colorado Bar Association. The study group had banded together and attempted to help Jeff handle Alan and his devious ways. And Annie, Abed, and Troy had somehow obtained proof of Annie’s accusations. Annie hadn’t wanted to talk about how they went about getting the copy of Alan’s email, but Jeff suspected it was a good story judging by the hushed tones in which she, Abed, and Troy discussed the matter.

Jeff ended up not letting Alan know he was aware of the email, making the calculated decision to postpone that revelation so that he could some day use his connection to Alan to return to the firm. After all, he had just convinced Ted to make Alan partner.

And it was about when Jeff told her this that Annie went ballistic. She high-tailed it out of the pop-n-lock-athon, shouting something about Alan being a _creep_ and that she was _in a never-ending spiral of disgust_. Annie’s abrupt departure shocked everyone, as did Jeff’s attempt to run after her. He couldn’t find her, figuring she must have gone down a different hallway. He attempted to search alternate paths, within a few minutes being joined by other members of the study group.

And she wasn’t answering his texts. By the time they got to the parking lot, Annie’s car was gone.

It was at that time Troy informed him that Alan and Annie had spoken at the firm party and it was Alan who had provided Annie with the necessary information to access his office. Troy maintained he had no idea what Annie did to get the information but she had seemed _icked out_.

Jeff went pale. He turned to Shirley.   “Maybe she went back to your place to get Sophie?”

Shirley shook her head. “I already checked with Lacey and she says Annie’s not there and she hasn’t heard from her. But she will be sure to let me know ASAP.”

“Okay. We should keep looking, and if anyone hears from her, tell me immediately.”

The members of the study group mumbled their agreement. They were used to Jeff being the leader and it seemed natural that he would be the one coordinating the locate Annie efforts. It also had not escaped anyone’s notice, except Pierce, that Annie’s departure was likely directly related to learning that Jeff was still cozying up to Alan. And Jeff seemed to actually feel bad about that, judging by his wide eyes and profuse swearing. Even Chang seemed concerned as he weakly volunteered to search Greendale high and mostly low for Annie. 

****************************

Jeff sat with Shirley in her living room. They had been there for two hours, with no word from Annie. Sophie was sleeping in the other room and the boys were arguing over which movie they would watch next before Lacey clapped her hands and ushered them out of the room.

Shirley shook her head while frowning. “Those two need to go to bed. She’ll make sure it happens.”

Jeff sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “Where the hell could Annie be? She has to come back…”

Shirley placed a hand on his arm. “Of course she’ll come back.”

“Right.”

“She seemed pretty upset, but I’m sure she just needed some air. She’ll be here to pick up Sophie soon. We originally told Lacey we’d be back by eleven.   So that gives us two more hours. You’ll see, she’ll walk right through that door.”

Jeff felt his voice crack, “What if she doesn’t?”

Shirley looked at him incredulously. “Jeffrey, I know she’s upset you’re still friendly with Alan, but hold your ego in check. That’s not enough to make her run off.”

Jeff pursed his lips as he clutched his phone. “I don’t think that’s all it was. Otherwise she would have yelled at me or something, we would have hashed it out, and then she’d have either understood my position or more likely convinced me to give Alan a piece of my mind. Which I intend to do, by the way. I didn’t realize…”

“Jeffrey, you’re right. It probably was about something more than that. But again, she’ll be back soon and then the two of you can talk about it. Or I can talk with her and figure out what’s going on.”

Jeff sighed. “God, I hope you’re right. Nancy hasn’t heard from her either, and since she’s at work she’s got Ryan on it. So far, nothing to report.” He stared back at his phone.

Shirley frowned. “Nancy? Ryan? Who are you talking about?”

He kept his eyes on his phone, crinkling up his brow in frustration. “Nancy is Annie’s sponsor. Ryan is her boyfriend. I figured since this thing that set her off had to do with Alan, who apparently was in NA with her, then maybe she’d seek out Nancy. Or even if it’s about something else, she’s likely to go to her anyway. Or maybe Ryan. You know, if she can’t talk to me about it.”

Shirley nodded as she stared off in thought. “So you have her sponsor’s number?”

“Yeah. I got it awhile ago when I was filling out some medical forms for Sophie.”

She whipped her attention back to him. “What? Why? When was this?”

Jeff leaned back and closed his eyes. “Last spring. Annie called me in the middle of the night. Sophie had that fever, remember? She was really sick and Annie was scared. And she needed someone to calm her down and help her get Sophie to urgent care. And that idiot boyfriend of hers, _he-who-shall-not-be-named_ , wasn’t reachable.”

Shirley rubbed Jeff’s hand as her tone softened. “I didn’t realize you did that for her. That was very decent of you.”

“Whatever.”

“And you thought to write down this Nancy’s number?”

“Just in case. You know, with the whole addiction thing.”

Shirley nodded, her eyes tearing. “Right. Well, if Annie is upset, then she’ll contact her, right? Or come back here…”

Jeff snapped, “Shirley, I think we should cut through the _crap_. We both know if she hasn’t done either of those things and hasn’t been in contact with the rest of the study group, she’s probably not doing anything good.”

Shirley gripped her cross, muttering a prayer.

Jeff’s eyes popped open. “Dammit…I should call Thanos.” He scrolled through his contacts and hit a button.

“Thanos?”

“You’ve met him…he works downstairs at Dildopolis. The younger guy.”

“Oh, yes. I was there right before school started.”

“I know.”  

Shirley was about to ask a question when Jeff reached Thanos. After a brief exchange, he clicked his phone and swore.

“Jeffrey!”

“He hasn’t heard from her either, and she’s not there. He says he’ll call me if he knows anything.”

Shirley muttered, “Shall I make us some tea?”

“Make me a whole pot of coffee _. Goddammit_.”

Shirley didn’t chastise him for his language or his rudeness as she shuffled out of the room. 

****************************

At ten, Jeff’s phone started to ring. He jumped from his seated position on Shirley’s couch as he clicked it. Shirley looked up from her Bible, eyes hopeful.

Jeff eyed the number, sighing as he answered the call. “Mom? This isn’t a good time….”

“Jeffrey, listen to me. Annie’s here.”

His eyes widened as he almost gasped, “Annie’s with _you_? In _Denver?_ ”

Shirley’s mouth fell open. She watched Jeff’s face as he continued talking to his mother.

“Yes, dear. And she told me everything.”

“She did?”

“She’s pretty upset but I think it was a relief to get it off her chest and just come clean with me.”

Jeff didn’t wish to dissect his mother’s words too much at the moment. While he wasn’t quite sure what Annie had told her, Jeff found he didn’t care. She was safe.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Can I talk to her?”

“I think you should come here.”

“Yeah, um… of course. I can head over to you right now. I’m at Shirley’s with Sophie.”

He looked over to Shirley, who mouthed _Sophie can stay here_.

“Uh…. Shirley says Sophie can just stay over. She’s sleeping anyway. I’ll be there in an hour.”

He mouthed to Shirley, _Thank you_.

Shirley nodded.

“Dear, bring that child with you. Annie tells me you have a carseat these days. She needs to see her baby.”

“Uh, okay. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Great. Drive safely. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Thanks mom.”

“You’re welcome. See you soon.”

Jeff clicked off the phone and turned to Shirley. He let out a long breath. “Annie wants to see Sophie. So I’m going to take her with me. I’ll text you later when we get there.”

Shirley nodded as she rose from her chair. “Of course. Um, I’ll see if I can rustle up a carseat.   I believe I still have….”

Jeff put his hand on her arm as he stood. “No need, Shirley. I’ve got one in my car.”

She backed away for a moment and craned her neck to meet his gaze. “What?!?”

He ignored her question as he began to scan the room. “Can you please help me get Sophie’s things together? Maybe if the two of us do this she won’t wake up.”

Shirley shook herself, realizing that her questions could wait. She reached over to pick up a stuffed kangaroo, which had somehow found its way into a pile of Jordan and Elijah’s toys. She handed it to Jeff. “No problem. I’m glad An-nie’s safe.”

Jeff smiled slightly, lips closed. He let out another long breath as he looked upward.

“Me too.”

 

 

 

 

 


	13. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorie’s suspicions are confirmed

Annie wrapped herself further around the striped pillow. She pressed her face into it for a moment, acutely aware of the sensation of her dried tears. She heard Dorie re-enter the room and felt her sit down next to her on the bed.

“I called him. He’s on his way and will bring Sophie with him.”

“I’m such a bad mother. I left my baby.” She didn’t turn to face Dorie, keeping her cheek firmly glued to the pillow.

Dorie reached out and began rubbing Annie’s back. “You didn’t leave her, dear. She’s safe with your friend Lacey. And you’d be picking her up around now anyway. Jeffrey’s just going to do that instead.”

“It should be me. How could I just leave her?”

“Annie dear, I don’t know how many times I can say this. You didn’t leave her. You came here because you were upset. And I’m glad you did. And you knew you didn’t have to worry about her because she was safe.”

“But I should have thought it through. I should have picked her up at least and brought her with me. But I didn’t even think about that. I don’t know why…”

Dorie interjected, “It’s okay, dear. Sometimes we don’t think. But in this case, it really is all fine. I’ve done much worse things, trust me. I should tell you some stories. Maybe not tonight, but let’s make sure to get together soon. And then you can hear about my disaster of a life. And you will feel much better, I promise.”

Annie sat up. She turned to face Dorie, shaking her head. “You’re the most put-together woman I know. I’d hardly describe you as a _disaster_.”

“I’ve come a long way and the rest might just be acting.” Dorie smiled with closed lips as she leaned against the headboard.

“Oh come on.”

Dorie stared off toward the window. She frowned. “It’s true. You didn’t know me when I was your age. I ran off with _Bill_ for crying out loud. Anyone could have told you he wasn’t a very nice person. But I was smitten. And I thought he treated me better than anyone else had. My dad wasn’t very good to me and my mother mostly ignored me. So I thought here this guy says he _loves_ me.   And I so wanted to believe that someone could want me. So I left. And then I had Jeffrey. By the time I realized the mistake I made, I thought it was too late. I should have taken Jeffrey and run but I didn’t. I didn’t see a way out. But you dear, _you_ are doing so much better than I ever did.”

Annie tilted her head and attempted unsuccessfully to catch Dorie’s eye. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better. You _divorced_ Bill, you got a good job, and you bought this home.”

Dorie shook her head, a pained expression on her face. She continued to avoid Annie’s gaze. “Bill finally hit me one too many times, yes, but _he’s the one who left_. I just filed for divorce and he needed to show up to the proceedings, but then he took off. And yes I did get a good job, but then I made a series of really bad decisions, mostly with men.”

“Dorie…”

“And this house? Well Jeffrey’s the one who bought it for me. I rented it for years but one day after he started making money, he decided I was being wasteful and he bought it just like that. And he paid off most of the mortgage about two years ago.”

Annie grabbed Dorie’s hand. “Then you raised a good son.”

Dorie suddenly choked back a sob. “Thank you. I hope so.”

“You did. He thinks he’s such a horrible person but he’s not. Your opinion matters so much to him. That’s why he keeps things from you. He’s afraid you won’t approve. And he’s terrified he won’t live up to your expectations.”

Dorie turned to look at Annie. “He should give me more credit. While a mother shouldn’t _always_ remind her child of what a screw up she is, maybe he and I should have a little chat.”

“I wish you were my mom. She’d never admit to making any mistakes.”

“Your mom is an idiot. She made the biggest mistake of her life when she turned her back on you.” 

**********************

Dorie eventually went back downstairs in order to check on the linens she was in the process of washing for Sophie’s crib. As Annie waited for Jeff and Sophie, she thought through the past few hours. It all seemed surreal. She remembered going along with Abed’s plan to hack into Alan’s email. They first needed to obtain the office number, so she put her feminine wiles to use and cozied up to the awful Alan Connor.

“You must be important here at the firm.” She batted her eyes while lightly touching his arm.

“That I am, Doll. Can I get you a drink?” Without waiting for an answer, he snapped his fingers at a server walking by.

Annie affected an exaggerated giggle. “Oh! Why thank you. You’re so _c_ harming.”

Alan handed her a glass of wine. “Thanks, Doll. Then how come we’ve never _done it_ before?” He eyed her up and down.

She reddened, placing her hand lightly over her exposed cleavage. “Um, we just met today?”

Alan smirked. “Oh come on, _Annie_. I remember you. You smacked me in the face once. Right after an NA meeting in the parking lot.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She sipped her wine. “How come you pretended you didn’t know me?”

“Cause I thought that’s how you liked to play it. Well, I didn’t recognize you right away. It took me a few minutes but then it hit me. And look at you, all perky and sweater-wearing at school. You looked positively _preppy_ when I saw you today. I take it you pawned the kid off on someone?” He not-so-subtly stared at her chest.

Annie started breathing rapidly, feeling her pulse almost burst out of her head. “I did _not_. She’s with me. Just not here, obviously.”

“Oh, so you're single-momming it these days?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were going to get rid of the kid. Wasn’t that the plan? God, why wouldn’t you? You’re so _hot_ but the kid’ll just drag you down.”

Annie pursed her lips and puffed out her chest, non-seductively.   “Not that it’s any of your business, but I changed my mind. And I don’t have any regrets about it. I don’t expect you to understand….”

He waved one hand dismissively in the air. “Yeah, sorry. I _don’t_ , but whatever.” He brought his hand down and wrapped it around her waist. “But since you’re here and I’m here, maybe we could have some fun?”

Annie pushed down the bile coming up her throat. She leaned outward slightly, averting her gaze. “Yeah, um, maybe.”

He whispered in her ear, “As I recall, you like men who drive flashy cars. And you don’t mind a little bit of the coke.   We’d make a great team.”

She suddenly realized that Alan remembered a lot more about her than she would have thought. She had by necessity revealed a lot of her history in those NA meetings with him present, openly discussing her relationship with Adam, the way she got addicted, her estrangement from her family, and of course her pregnancy.

While she knew she was willingly playing Alan to get information to help Abed and Troy, she felt like she was going to throw up. Somehow she was able to calmly disentangle herself from him while still pretending to be intensely interested in what he was saying.

As she watched him, she noticed his shifty and manipulative manner.   He was addicted to cocaine. He drove a nice car. He was on track to become partner; one might say he was _successful_. And he was undeniably cocky. Sure, she didn’t find him physically attractive at all and he was far too crass for her, but at his core was he that different from _Adam_? And Adam had basically told her that Sophie would ruin her life too and didn’t seem to want to have much to do with her.

What the hell had she been thinking?

Annie nodded politely as Alan droned on. She allowed him to make some lewd comments but felt triumphant when she finally obtained his office number. Luckily it hadn’t taken very long at all. She found he was pretty willing to disclose it once she promised him a romp later on, saying she’d meet him there.

She walked sheepishly over to the gang, telling Abed and Troy the necessary information before she followed them upstairs. And maybe she got a little overzealous with the chloroform.   But she felt she needed to release some anger.

What else was she supposed to do?

On the way to the pop-n-lock-athon, Annie turned over Alan’s comments and her appraisal in her mind. How could she have been so stupid? And how could she have even remotely considered Adam’s offer for reconciliation last spring? He was just using her, just as he always had. She used to think that he cared for her in some way, but it was dawning on her that he was mostly concerned with himself. And she had fallen for it all, allowing herself to be Charmed. And she had almost died. And for what? What was wrong with her?

No wonder her mother kicked her out. She was such an idiot. 

**************************

Jeff started to let himself into the house when his mom opened the door. He was carefully balancing Sophie on one shoulder, trying to not have her rouse too fully. She had already been whining a little when he had unbuckled her from the carseat.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Likewise.” Jeff felt the sensation of something bumping against his knee. He glanced down. “Hey Hank.” There was a soft _woof_ in response.

“Shhhhhh” Dorie turned to grab Hank by the collar and gently yet firmly guided him toward the living room.

Jeff placed a bag on the ground before following his mother. He sat down on the couch, moving Sophie into a reclining position in his arms. She kicked him once with a light pink footed-pajama foot before turning inward and grabbing her bear. She whined for a few moments before she started to suck her thumb, keeping her eyes closed.

Dorie motioned for her.

He gingerly handed her the semi-sleeping hobbit. “She’s a little confused. Slept most of the way here, thank God.”  
  
Dorie smiled as she cradled Sophie and sat down in a chair. “She’ll be okay. I’ll let her fall asleep on me.”

“Maybe I should take her to Annie. Where is she?” Jeff began to scan the room, a worried expression on his face.

“She’s in your old room. And I think you should talk to her alone for a few minutes. And then we can bring in Sophie.” Dorie placed a kiss on Sophie’s head as she continued to gaze at her.

Jeff cleared his throat. “How is she?”

Dorie looked up at him with a somber expression. “She’s cried out, poor dear. But she’s much better than when she showed up. She’ll probably sleep soundly tonight.”

He leaned forward and placed his head in his hands, smacking his forehead for a moment. He then looked at his mother with pleading eyes. “I still don’t understand why she came _here_. Did she tell you she ran off from our school thingy?”

Dorie nodded, replying softly and evenly, “Jeffrey, of course she told me. She told me everything.”  
  
His eyebrows rose. “ _Everything_?”

Dorie narrowed her eyes. “About what she went through. I knew some things of course, but she told me about the drugs. And rehab. And that awful ex of hers with his own drug problem. And _Alan._ Oh my God, have I heard enough about _Alan_ to last me a lifetime.”

Jeff gulped before tentatively asking his next question, “What did Alan do to her?”

Dorie let out a long sigh. “Nothing, really. Other than being a creep. But seeing him tonight brought a lot up for her.”

“I still don’t understand…”

“She thinks she’s a terrible person. She thinks she was stupid for getting involved with Sophie’s father and that her mother was justified in abandoning her because she was so stupid. To top it off, she thinks she’s a bad mother.”

Jeff’s eyes widened as he stared at his mother incredulously. “What?!? That’s all crazy. She’s the smartest person I know. Adam is a _douche_ and that’s _not_ her fault. Her mother is a…. well shall we say I have absolutely nothing positive to say about that woman. And Annie’s an amazing mother. I tell her that all the time. And she always smugly agrees with me.”

Dorie shook her head swiftly. “Just because she says something doesn’t mean she believes it. You need to tell her all those things you just said. And keep telling her them. That poor girl needs to hear it.”

“God. I had no idea.” Jeff leaned against the couch, throwing his head back so that he was facing the ceiling.

“It’s okay.   She puts on a good act. I’m just telling you this now. You need to know.”

He brought his head back up and looked at her with a puzzled expression. “Why did she come here?”

Dorie rocked Sophie for a moment, placing another kiss on her cheek. “Because she needed to confess, dear. She wants me to approve of her. And she can’t talk to her own mother. I’m probably the closest thing she’s got. I’m honored, really.”

Jeff nodded. “I see.” He paused for a moment before he continued, “Did she, um, tell you anything else?”

Dorie let out an almost pained gasp. “Are we going to get into this _now_ , Jeffrey? I hardly think it’s the time. _No_ , she did not tell me anything else.”

Jeff’s cheeks reddened as stared at his mother.

She continued to look at him, noticing he had the expression of a child caught going into the cookie jar. She rolled her eyes.   “And I don’t want to make this about me. I think you should talk to Annie.   And you all can stay the night. We’ll leave any other _conversations_ for another time.”

His eyes momentarily bulged before he composed himself, clearing his throat. “Right. Thanks.”

“Go.”

Jeff made his way upstairs, knocking softly on the door before entering. He was conscious of a wave of relief as he spied Annie curled up on the bed.

He whispered, “Hey, it’s me.”

Annie abruptly turned over and wiped her hand across her face. “Hey.”

It was obvious she had been crying, but it appeared that most of it had happened earlier. Her eyes were pink and puffy. Although Jeff felt increasingly settled being in her presence once again, he was acutely aware that she was not okay. And he felt helpless as to what to do about it.

He walked over and sat down next to her. “Sophie’s with my mom downstairs. She was a trooper all the way. Slept through the drive. And now she’s the focus of my mom’s unmet grandmotherly needs. She’ll be spoiled.”

Annie affected a weak smile. “So she’s okay?”

He frowned as he laid himself down next to her. He gently brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Yeah, of course she’s okay. She had a great time earlier. Lacey told me the boys were excited she’s walking now. They _may_ have put a crown on her head and declared her a princess.”

“They did not.” Annie’s eyes perked up as she attempted to conjure up the image of the Bennett boys declaring Sophie Ariel Edison their princess.

Jeff spoke softly, keeping his eyes fixed to hers. “I’m serious. That’s what Lacey said. Of course they messed with her hair in the process. I noticed her curls need some work. They’re a little matted. But don’t worry - I’ll fix it tomorrow.”

Annie let out a soft laugh. “You’re trying to cheer me up.”

“Is it working?”

“Maybe.”

“Good.” He let his hand fall to hers and took it, giving it a squeeze.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m just relieved you’re okay.”  
  
“I shouldn’t have just left like that.”

“Clearly you couldn’t stop yourself. I’m sorry for being an insensitive jackass.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

He sighed. “About me faking nice with Alan. I didn’t realize what that would do to you.” He looked off toward the side. “I’ll go and punch him tomorrow.”

She swatted his chest. “You will do no such thing! This has nothing to do with Alan. I couldn’t really care less how you decide to be with him. Do whatever you think is best.”

“But I thought…”

“It’s not about Alan.”  
  
“Okay.”

They sat in silence for some moments. Jeff resumed looking into her eyes, a concerned and confused expression on his face.

“I’m glad you’re safe. I was worried.”

“I won’t do that again, I promise.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“It probably won’t make any sense to you.”

“Try me.” 

***********************

Jeff ambled downstairs to find his mother sitting in a chair near the window with Sophie sleeping in her arms. She was humming something softly. Jeff had a brief sense of déjà vu. He walked over and sat down on the ottoman. Hank arose from his spot near Dorie and moved over to sit indelicately on top of Jeff’s feet.

Jeff forcefully shoved Hank off to the side and whispered, “She’s okay. I’ll take Sophie up to her.”

“Good.” Dorie carefully handed Sophie over to him. The sleeping hobbit kicked him again before curling up in his arms.

As she stood, Dorie remarked, “She can sleep in the crib. You probably noticed it’s still in the room. I kept it that way since Christmas, you know, just in case you visited overnight again.”

Jeff looked down at Sophie and smiled slightly. He adjusted the bear as it slid out of her grasp. “I guess that was good thinking on your part.” He gingerly rose from his seat on the ottoman.

Dorie studied his face. She remarked in a slow and even tone, “I like to be prepared, Jeffrey. So I’m prepared.”

He startled inwardly for a moment. “Right. Thanks, mom.” He leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Dorie crossed her arms and shrugged. “And please don’t sleep on the couch. That poor girl shouldn’t be alone tonight. She needs you.”

“Right.”

“Good night, dear. See you tomorrow. I’ll make breakfast.” She reached up to lightly touch Sophie on the head before she turned to walk upstairs. 

*************************

The next morning, all seemed back to normal. They all sat in Dorie’s kitchen as she slid eggs onto their plates.

“Thanks again for letting us stay over, Dorie. I really appreciate it.” Annie smiled meekly as she held Sophie on her lap.

“It’s no problem, dear. You know that.”

“Thanks, mom. For breakfast too.”

“Of course.”

Hank ambled over and placed a slurping kiss on Sophie’s face. Sophie began giggling almost hysterically. Annie startled but then smiled at the dog as he walked over to Dorie, tail wagging.

“Hank! Oh for crying out loud.” Jeff grabbed a napkin and handed it to Annie.

“She’s fine, Jeff.”

“He licks everything.”

Annie laughed as she cleaned Sophie up. She then placed her in the high chair and secured the tray.

Dorie sat down and began fussing with Sophie’s bib.  “It’s a good thing I kept this high chair.”

“Mom!”

She turned to look at him, a puzzled expression on her face. “And why would that upset you, Jeffrey?”

“Um, no reason.” He mumbled as he bit into his toast. He glanced at Annie for a moment before quickly turning his attention back to his plate.

Dorie’s eyes landed on Annie, who sat staring at Jeff. She noticed the blush creeping across her face.

“Oh for heaven’s sake. Annie, you told me a lot of things last night, and it all turned out fine, didn’t it? I am so proud of you. Even more so now that I have the full story about what you’ve been through.”

Annie nodded, her eyes widening as she turned to face Dorie. “Thanks. That means a lot to me. I’m so relieved that you know now.”

“It is a relief, isn’t it? To just tell me things. And look, nothing terrible happened.”

“I know.”

Dorie’s eyes swooped to Jeff. She noticed he was staring at the ceiling. She cleared her throat, “And Jeffrey? Is there anything you’d care to tell me?”

“Um…”

“For God’s sake, we survived last Thanksgiving, didn’t we? What could possibly be worse than that little confession?”

Jeff shot a look to Annie, who reacted with a shrug.   Jeff rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation.

Dorie calmly locked eyes with him. He could have sworn she was prepared to wait all day. His pupils began to dilate as he attempted not to blink.

Annie bit her lip and started to speak softly, “Jeff, please. Unless you don’t…”

“Annie and I are seeing each other. There. Happy now?” Jeff crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to stare at his mother.

Annie let out a breath and closed her eyes.

Dorie nodded decisively. “Well, well, well. Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Jeff resumed looking upward.

“Jeffrey!”

He turned his eyes back on his mother. “What?!? I told you. What more do you want from me?”

Dorie cleared her throat. “I know this question might be a little difficult to answer, but how long has this been going on?”

Annie quickly turned her attentions to Sophie, wiping some crumbs off her face.

Jeff sighed. “Yeah, um…” He looked over to Annie, who glanced at him with another shrug. He looked back at his mother. “I guess…. a little over four months?”

Annie nodded firmly and then turned back to Sophie.

Dorie shook her head. “I don’t understand why you keep these things from me.” She turned to Annie. “And this must be so nice, having your boyfriend keep your relationship a secret. From his own mother.”

“Mom!”

Annie looked at Dorie sheepishly while handing Sophie another small piece of toast. “We were going to tell you. It’s just that we’re still trying to figure things out.”

Dorie let out a loud sigh. “Well _of course_ you are. The situation is hardly straightforward. Still, why not tell me about it?”

Annie bit her lip and looked at Dorie with wide eyes. “I wanted to…”

“Annie!”

Dorie nodded to Annie, speaking softly. “I know.” She turned back to Jeff.   “Fine. You know what, it doesn’t matter. You told me now. Good. And as you can tell, I am just _shocked_.”

“Mom!”

“Calm down, dear. I don’t know why you’re so upset.”

Jeff sighed as he continued to sit back in his chair with arms crossed. “I’m not upset. I just don’t want you making this into a big deal or anything. Annie and I are doing just fine. We like things the way they are.”

“What makes you think I’d interfere? You two seem like you’re being sensible, at least as far as I can tell. I mean you’re not just going to go and elope next week, right? And for Christ’s sake, please don’t tell me she’s pregnant.”

Jeff just about choked. He flashed an alarmed look at Annie.

Annie, more than a bit irritated, mouthed silently to him, _Of course not!_

“Jesus, mom!”

Annie put her face down near Sophie and gave her a kiss, avoiding Dorie’s eyes.

Dorie looked back and forth between them. She rolled her eyes as she continued, “I’m just saying please don’t worry about pressure from me. I think you two should take things slow.”

Jeff’s cheeks reddened as he quickly glanced to Annie before looking down on his plate.

Dorie sighed again. “I don’t mean _that_. Do you really think I care about _that_? All I’m saying is there’s been way too much drama in both of your lives over the past year. God knows the two of you could just use some time to _date_.   Or whatever it is you kids are calling it these days. I’m just relieved we can have it all out in the open.”

“Um, thanks mom.”

“Thanks, Dorie.”

Dorie got up and walked over to Annie, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “And I like you, dear. So please don’t be a stranger. You’re welcome here anytime. And I mean that, no matter what happens.”

************************

Although Jeff had texted everyone to let them know that he had found Annie and she was okay, the rest of the study group were noticeably relieved to see Annie for themselves on Monday.   Shirley had tried reaching out to Annie the previous day, but Annie had merely responded to her text indicating that she wasn’t up for talking at present and was looking forward to some sense of normalcy in the new week. She also thanked Shirley and Lacey profusely for taking care of Sophie and assured them she wouldn’t be running off again.

“Oh An-nie it is so good to see you!”   Shirley wrapped her arms around her as Annie entered the study room. Jeff was walking by her side and holding Sophie.

Annie cringed. “Thanks, Shirley. Now you’re embarrassing me.”

“We’re just all glad you’re okay.” Shirley backed away and looked at Annie with concern.

Jeff plopped Sophie’s bag down on the seat next to him and sat down with Sophie on his lap.

Troy ran up to Annie and grabbed her into a bear hug. He then released her before he jumped back to his position next to Abed. “Yeah, we were all worried when you flipped out like that. If there’s anything we can do…”

Annie smiled weakly. “It’s okay, Troy. I’m fine.”

Abed cocked his head to the side, not moving from his spot. “Even I wasn’t expecting the meltdown, Annie. I could have sworn the episode would have ended with a group hug after we lost the pop-n-lock-athon.”

Britta glared at Abed. “This wasn’t an _episode_ and clearly Annie was upset…” She walked over and put one arm protectively around Annie’s shoulders.  

Pierce stepped forward, clenching his fists. “Next time let me kick some ass, Annie. Tell me who upset you. Was it Jeffrey?” He looked over at Jeff.  “Sorry Jeffrey, we’ll have to settle things like men. Let’s step outside.”

Jeff rolled his eyes before he resumed whispering something to Sophie.

Annie tapped Britta to release her. She then addressed the group in a calm voice. “I’m fine guys. And no, Jeff didn’t do anything. I was already upset, and yes it had to do with Alan but only tangentially, and really, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. I should have just told you guys what was going on instead of running out like that. I swear that won’t happen again.”

“We’re so glad Jeffrey found you.” Shirley glanced between Jeff and Annie as the study group members began to take their respective seats.

“Yeah turns out I’m a good detective.” Jeff remarked sardonically.

Shirley was of course aware that Jeff’s mother was the one who had _found_ Annie. But she seemed to sense by unspoken agreement with Jeff that it wasn’t the time to mention it. Although it went against her nature to bite her tongue, she was finding herself conflicted. Clearly she was missing some information here. And the involvement of Jeff’s mother coupled with his other remarks on Saturday both troubled and touched her. She remembered the toothbrush in Annie’s apartment, and although she had convinced herself that it was likely Adam’s based on the conversation she had overheard between Britta and Annie, now she wasn’t so sure.

The possibility of _Jeff and Annie_ was a little much for Shirley to take in at the moment.   And she was more than a little preoccupied at present with her own romantic troubles. She felt her cheeks become hot as she recalled her recent activities with Andre.   And the last thing she wanted was a repeat of last year’s post-Thanksgiving blowup with Annie. That had been humiliating.

Shirley leaned over to Annie. “Sweetie, let’s get together, just you and me sometime this week, okay? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

Annie nodded while shuffling her papers. “Sounds good.”

As the group members settled in, Jeff carefully handed Sophie over to Annie. He moved back to his seat and began opening up his anthropology book. He cleared his throat, “So, ladies, gentlemen, Pierce.   As excitedly dramatic as this past weekend was, I think we are all in agreement that it would be best to return to our routine.”

There were various less-than-enthusiastic mumbles of agreement around the table.

“Okay, so let’s begin reviewing….”

Britta smirked. “Chapter one?”

Jeff nodded smugly. “Right. Chapter one.”

Britta rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to parrot back what I just said. You know maybe I could lead the study group today. “

Jeff remarked sarcastically, “Riiight. Because that makes sense.”

Annie bristled, feeling an urge to defend Britta. “Jeff! You know she has a point. We should rotate more this year. I think it makes sense for Britta to take the lead today if she wants to.”

“Thank you, Annie.” Britta puffed out her chest as she began to move her finger down the first page of chapter one.

Jeff groaned. “We’re just wasting time. Why don’t we….”

Annie opened her mouth and was about to loudly shout his name as usual when there was an interruption.

“ _Deeedeee…Deeeeeeeefff!_ ”

Sophie slammed her fist on the study room table.


	14. Interrogation Techniques

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one minds their own business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve received a couple PMs regarding some issues with the last chapter. Please note there were two chapters released last week, one day apart. If you haven’t already done so, make sure to read chapter 12 before reading chapter 13 and then this chapter. I apologize for any confusion!
> 
> Thanks always for comments/feedback. You guys are awesome.

After everyone had calmed down regarding Annie’s meltdown, it had been a huge and much-needed group bonding moment to hear Sophie imitate Annie’s usual chastising of Jeff during their study session. Following a moment of stunned silence, the group, minus Abed, burst out in laughter. There had then been various “oooohhs” followed by:

“What a precious angel!”

“Dude! Sophie is just like Annie!”

“Oh my God, Annie, she’s learning how not to let a man dominate our conversations. Right on!”

“She’s a smart one, why don’t you hand her over to her Grandpa Pierce?”

“I did not foresee this. I could have sworn she would have called Jeff _daddy_ by now. Although one might say she did say _daddy._ It sounded like _Daddy Jeff_ to me.”

The moment of levity, which had included Annie and Jeff looking at each other while hurting from laughter, was instantly broken. All eyes swooped to Abed. And then to Jeff, Annie, and Sophie.

Jeff’s eyes bulged. “What the _hell_ Abed?”

Sophie continued to chuckle.

Annie began to sputter, her cheeks growing pinker by the second, “I…whaat…why would you….he’s _not_ ….she wouldn’t….”

Abed continued in a monotone, “I’m surprised none of you understood. It was clearly _Daddy Jeff_.”

Britta and Shirley exchanged alarmed glances. Shirley gripped her cross, muttering something while shaking her head.

Britta cast Annie a questioning yet sympathetic look. She noticed Annie’s expression of alarm. She turned to Abed, “What do you mean?”

Abed shrugged, a blank expression on his face. “Jeff’s the dad of the group. And he appears to be Sophie’s main male role model, at least as far as I know. It would make sense. And Annie told Troy that she doesn’t think Sophie’s father likes being called _daddy_ , so she’s not sure if she can get Sophie to call him that.”

“Troy! I told you that in _confidence_!” Annie lifted herself to a standing position while hoisting Sophie on one side. Sophie had begun to settle down and looked at her mother with a startled expression.

Troy screamed at high pitch, “Abed! You weren’t supposed to tell anyone else. Annie, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I had to give him something. He’s like a mind ninja. I’m so sorry….” He lifted his knees up to his chest while seated in his chair.

Annie stared at Troy, her mouth forming an _O_ as she watched him rock pitifully back and forth. She shook her head and then turned her attentions back to Abed.

“Abed, why would you say something like that?”

Jeff looked at Annie, observing her nostrils flaring. He could have sworn she was going to have a stroke. He noticed Sophie was curling her head into Annie’s shoulder and had begun sucking her thumb.

He waved his arms at Annie, his words dripping with sarcasm, “Annie, sit down.  Abed’s just being as sensitive and emotionally astute as he always is.” He made eye contact with her, his eyebrows rising for a moment.

She stared at him with annoyance. He nodded impatiently, tilting his head toward her chair.

“Um…fine.” She sat back down but continued to look at Abed with her eyes narrowed. She placed Sophie back on her lap, facing outward.

Jeff turned to look at Abed. “You need to learn how to be discrete. It’s clear Annie viewed that conversation with Troy as _private._ We don’t need to go talking about things like that.”

Abed nodded. “I’m sorry, Annie. I was trying to help.”

Annie let out a loud sigh. “Whatever.” She turned her attentions to Sophie, attempting to stop her from reaching across the table toward Jeff.

Troy stopped rocking, sniffling as he wiped his eye. As he began to put his legs back down, he watched an increasingly smiley and babbly Sophie continue to reach toward Jeff.

“Dude! Now it looks like she wants Jeff. Maybe Abed’s right. Maybe she is confused.”

“Troy!” Shirley threw a hastily formed paper ball at his head. She turned to Annie, “So-phie sweetie, why don’t you come to your Auntie Shir-ley?”

Sophie turned her head toward Shirley.

Shirley motioned for Annie to hand Sophie to her, which Annie did.

Shirley sat up straighter with a sense of smug importance coupled with an underlying sense of relief. She spoke in a light-hearted tone, “There we go, I’ll just hold onto this little one. Maybe I can teach her my name. We could go all around the group. She can learn all of our names. It seems she might have _Jeff_ down already, most likely because her mama says it so often in here.”

Jeff mumbled, “I’ve been trying to get her to say it…”

Annie shot him a curious glance.

He shrugged, mouthing to her while everyone’s eyes were on Sophie, ‘ _I thought it might be better.’_

Annie nodded with comprehension.

“ _Hi._ ” Sophie continued smiling at Shirley.

Shirley placed a kiss on Sophie’s head. “Oh _Hi,_ swee-tie. Let’s practice names…”

Shirley then attempted to familiarize Sophie with the study group members’ names, having everyone introduce themselves as she motioned to them from across the table. Annie and Jeff exchanged questioning looks. Jeff shrugged as he took out his phone.

After making the rounds from Pierce to Britta, Shirley bounced Sophie on her lap and smiled. “There we go. She’ll think about it. And we’ll do it each time. One day she’ll get it, and she’ll be able to say _all_ of our names. How nice.”

Jeff looked up from his phone and caught Sophie’s eye. He winked.

Sophie suddenly threw herself onto the table yelling “ _Dee Dee Deeff!”_ Shirley gasped and grabbed her, pulling her back onto her lap as Sophie started to scream and cry.

Jeff pushed his phone to the side and instinctively lunged forward, unable to reach across to where Shirley sat. After he realized Shirley had secured Sophie on her lap, he glanced quickly around the group, visibly shaken. He then moved back to his seat while sliding his phone back into his pocket.

Annie quickly turned and took Sophie as she continued to wail. “Shhh….it’s okay. I’m sorry, guys. We need a break.” She looked around the room sheepishly as she stood and made her way toward the door.

Jeff jumped up, grabbed Sophie’s bear and blanket, and followed them out.

Britta smiled softly as she watched them leave.

Before anyone could react to what had just happened, a crumpled ball of paper hit Britta in the head. She turned and looked at Pierce with a scowl.

Pierce appeared surprised by her reaction. “What? Aren’t we throwing balls now?”

Shirley muttered under her breath, “Oh Lord. Please guide that poor child.” 

**************************

Annie discovered Jeff was quick to settle Sophie down. It was fairly simple once she handed her over to him as they sat outside on the library steps.   It seemed as if Sophie really did just want Jeff, or as Annie was realizing, _Dee Dee Deeff._

_Jeff?_

_Daddy Jeff?_

She pushed aside her speculations and asked him, “You’ve been trying to get her to call you _Jeff_?”

He rocked Sophie against his shoulder before placing her in a standing position in front of him. He took her hands and continued to look at her, making an exaggerated _wow_ motion with his mouth.

Keeping his eyes on Sophie, he replied, “Yeah, um, I know we hadn’t really talked about it since you know, the _incident_ , but that’s okay, right? I mean it is my name.”

Annie nodded. “Right. Of course that’s okay. That makes sense.”

He glanced over to her while continuing to hold Sophie’s hands. “Abed said a lot of stuff in there.”

Annie shook her head, appearing still to be furious. “I can’t believe he did that. I told Troy that, and he wasn’t supposed to go spreading it around.”

Jeff pulled Sophie up onto his lap and then handed her the blanket. He shrugged. “If it helps I doubt he told anyone else. I just think you have to assume whatever you tell him he’ll tell his boyfriend.”

Annie nodded solemnly. “I should have realized.”

Jeff squinted his eyes at Sophie as he noticed her begin to suck on her blanket. He then refocused on Annie’s earlier words, as they were troubling him.

He turned to face her as he remarked, “You didn’t tell me that Adam was having an issue with the whole _daddy_ thing. I know he’s not the most involved, but I just assumed he’d expect that.”

She began to smooth down the pleats in her skirt, avoiding his eyes. “I don’t know what to do. She has to call him _something_. But he seems uncomfortable with it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He felt something wrench in his chest.

Annie looked up at him with worried eyes. “Because I didn’t want to upset you. Or confuse the issue. You know since you kind of freaked out with the _incident_.”

“Annie…” He reached over to grab her hand.

She pulled it away before he could reach it.

She bristled. “It’s fine. And remember what your mom said, about agreeing that we should just date. And it’s a far cry from dating to trying to figure out what Sophie’s relationship is to you. So that’s why I don’t think we should over think it. And that’s also why I don’t discuss Adam with you that much.”

Jeff nodded, looking out over the quad. “But why Troy?”

She shrugged. “He’s actually a really good listener. He’s been asking me a lot of stuff about Adam recently. He knew him at our high school. I think he just wants to make sure I’m okay.”

Jeff nodded again as he adjusted Sophie’s position on his lap. He whispered something to her for a moment before he addressed Annie, “You guys are close.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Stop it. Don’t be jealous.”

“I’m not.”

She lightly swatted him on his arm. “You are. You’ve been jealous since New Year’s. Troy and I are just friends.”

“Sorry.”

She cleared her throat and then turned on a peppy smile.   “You know what, I think it’s really cute she seems to want to call you _Dee Dee Deeff_. It’s not exactly _Jeff_ , but I think that’s what she’s trying to say.”

Jeff looked at Sophie again, noticing she was squirming. He moved her back into a standing position, facing him so he could study her face.

He hesitated, aware he wasn’t sure if he wanted an answer to his next question, “So we’re pretty sure _Dee Dee Deeff_ means _Jeff_ , right?”

Annie replied, laughing slightly, “Of course it does. You heard her the first time. She’s got the vowel in _Jeff_ all mixed up. So _Deeff_ is _Jeff._ She’s just starting it off with the syllables. And she can’t say soft _g’s._ ”

“Are we sure that’s what she’s saying? Abed might have a point.” He allowed Sophie to sit down on the step next to him. He placed the bear on her lap, moving it about a little to keep her distracted. She started to giggle.

Annie sighed as she looked up at the sky. “I don’t know, okay?. She’s way too young for me to explain things to her. She sees her _daddy_ and she sees you. And I don’t really know how to make her call you guys by what you’re supposed to be called.”

Jeff placed his arm around Annie’s shoulder, allowing her to lean in. “Annie, I’m not blaming you for anything. This whole thing is weird.”

“It might change. She’ll get the hang of things eventually, right?”

Jeff stared across the quad. He wasn’t sure what conclusions Sophie would come to regarding her relationship with her father. Or with him. And the swiftness of his increasing involvement with Annie was beginning to dawn on him in a way it hadn’t until this moment. He was realizing that they would need to constantly grapple with who he was to Sophie and who he was _willing to be_ for her.

And that was more than a little overwhelming considering he was still struggling with forming into words how he felt about _Annie_. This whole _relationship_ thing was new territory for him. He and Annie had been together longer than he and Michelle had.

God, Michelle. That seemed liked a lifetime ago. And his longest relationship ever had been six months.

What happens when they reach that mark? What happens after?

And was he supposed to _say anything_? He didn’t need to _say it,_ right? Would she expect that? And how would he even know if there was anything to _say_?

He nodded absentmindedly as he responded to Annie’s question. “I’m sure she will.”

Annie pulled herself up to a sitting position and eyed him. “Are you upset?”

“God, Annie. She’s a little kid. I’m not _upset_.”

“Okay, good.”

Jeff roused himself from his preoccupations and attempted to focus on Annie. She looked genuinely concerned. He felt the sudden and familiar urge to make all of her stresses go away. And he knew he could make her smile.

“I’m just wondering if she’s going to be yelling _DeeDeeDeeff_ all the time.” He mock pounded his fist in the air, affecting the sour look Sophie had on her face earlier when she made her declaration.

Annie began to laugh. She wiped a tear from her eye. “That _was_ pretty funny.”

He looked down at Sophie as he uttered his next words, “Do you think she’s going to do that again? The fist slamming? That was kind of adorable.” 

**************************

Annie and Jeff had been settling in since the past weekend’s events. Annie had been relieved that she was able to explain some of the reasons for her freakout about Alan and that he had seemed to understand.   And while she knew he didn’t quite _get it_ he was at least trying to do so, and that meant a lot to her.

And she was comforted by the fact that Dorie seemed to comprehend what she was going through. Although Annie’s brain had been fairly certain Dorie would be kind to her when she confessed, her heart felt like it was taking a risk to be completely open that night. She knew Dorie was different than her mom but it was still an immense relief to have that notion proven correct.

And Annie was happy Dorie now knew about her and Jeff’s relationship. Despite the initial awkwardness surrounding Jeff’s disclosure to his mom, the rest of their visit had been pleasant and even Jeff seemed to relax a little once he realized his mom wasn’t going to pressure them or ask too many questions.

And when they returned home, Jeff continued to be very careful with her. He had encouraged her to get some rest, offering to watch Sophie while Annie slept in his bedroom. He then curled up with Annie during Sophie’s nap. She had to admit that felt nice.

They had briefly talked about being more open about things with the study group, but Annie shared she had been through too much over the weekend and wanted to wait another week or so before they disclosed anything. Jeff agreed, stating that he’d follow Annie’s wishes in the matter.

Although Annie found Dorie’s warm acceptance to be reassuring, she was under no illusions that it would be as easy with some members of the study group. And she didn’t feel like dealing with that at the moment. 

**************************

“An-nie, swee-tie, it’s so good we could arrange this time to chat, just us girls.” Shirley sat across from Annie, Sophie, and Lacey in her living room.

Annie smiled. “Me too. Thanks for having us over.”

“It’s no problem.”

Annie scanned the room with a puzzled expression. “Where are the boys?”

Shirley waved one hand in the air dismissively while averting her gaze. “Andre took them to a movie. They’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“Sounds like Andre’s around more. That’s good, right?”

Shirley cleared her throat. “We’re not here to talk about _me_. I wanted to speak with you privately about a rather shall we say _indelicate_ matter.”

Annie’s eyes widened. She took a deep breath before uttering, “Okay.”

Shirley clasped her hands on her lap and looked at Annie intently. “We were so worried about you last weekend.”

Annie looked between Shirley and Lacey, smiling tightly.   “Look ladies, I’m really sorry for running off like that. But if you must know, Alan said some stuff to me about NA and it just reminded me of things I’m not proud of. So I needed to get out of there. Again, I’m sorry.”

Shirley cast Lacey a knowing look.

Lacey motioned for Sophie. “Here, I’ll just take her so you two can talk. We’ll play right over there.” She indicated the play area over at the side of the living room.

Annie handed Sophie over to her and turned back to Shirley.

Shirley shook her head solemnly. “I’m confused as to why you felt the need to go to Jeff’s mother rather than to one of us.”

Annie let out a long sigh, figuring she’d have to give Shirley some explanation. “She’s a friend of mine. I met her last year when she stopped by Jeff’s while we were working on a Spanish assignment. She’s super nice and has been helpful in giving me advice about mom stuff.”

“I’m a mother, An-nie.”

“It can’t hurt for me to have more than one mom friend.”

Shirley nodded with sympathy. “Well of course. I just didn’t realize the two of you were so friendly.”

Annie crossed her arms and leaned back slightly. “We are. And she really helped me out last weekend. So can we please drop this? I’m better now. And again, I swear I won’t…”

Shirley interjected, “I understand. You know, I was waiting with Jeffrey Saturday night, and the poor boy was freaking out.” She eyed Annie curiously.

Annie shrugged, keeping her arms crossed. “I talked to him. He just thought I was mad at him, but we’re okay.”

Shirley shook her head. “I don’t think he was that worried you were mad at him. I think he was scared that you had gone off to do something stupid.”

“He knows that’s not what happened.”

“He does _now_. But you should have seen him. He was so very worried about you. He even tried to reach a bunch of people you are apparently close to. People I didn’t even know about.”

“So?”

“He seems to know a lot about you. I didn’t realize the two of you were so close.”

Annie shrugged again as she looked down. “We are.”

Shirley made eye contact with Lacey. She then turned back to Annie and nodded. “How close are you?”

Annie flushed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I’ve noticed the googly eyes.”

Annie looked up with surprise. “Googly eyes?”

“The long looks, the stolen glances. I’m not a fool.”

“Hm?”

Shirley took a deep breath. “Fine. What would you think if I set up Jeffrey with Lacey here?”

Lacey’s eyes widened, as she whipped her head in their direction. “Shirley!”  

Shirley continued unfazed by Lacey’s reaction, “She thinks he’s very cute. She’s been interested in him since she saw him with you the night of the Tranny Dance.”

Lacey put her head in her hands. “Oh Lord.”

Sophie wacked Lacey in the head with her bear as Lacey continued to bury her face.

Shirley fixed her eyes on Annie, watching for her reaction.

Annie’s face turned from pink to a redder shade. She placed her hand near her mouth as she glanced away. “Um…I suppose you could ask him…”

Shirley lowered her voice speaking with a rapid-fire, “YouwillnotmesswithmeAnnie.”

Annie gasped. “What?!?”

“Are you involved with that boy?”

Annie stared off toward the front door for a few moments before she made eye contact with Shirley. “Why would you think that?”

“I saw the toothbrush.   First I thought it was Adam’s. But now I’m thinking it’s Jeffrey’s. It’s one of them, am I right?”

Annie pursed her lips and looked at Shirley with narrowed eyes. “You went through my medicine cabinet?”

Shirley placed one hand on her own chest in a misplaced gesture of humility. “I’m not proud of it, but if you must know, yes I did. I wanted to check up on you.”

“That’s a complete invasion of my privacy. I can’t believe you.” Annie continued to regard Shirley with irritation.

“I’m sorry, swee-tie. I couldn’t stop myself. And I decided not to say anything. But then when I saw how close you and Jeffrey are…”

“What business is it of yours? If it’s Jeff’s? Or if it’s Adam’s?”

“Fine. Maybe it isn’t any of my business. But we’re _friends_ An-nie. And friends look out for each other. And if we’re friends, you should tell me if you’re seeing someone.”

“I’m really mad at you.”

Lacey suddenly perked up and called over, “Shirley, stop giving her such a hard time. If it is Jeff, how could she possibly help herself? The guy is _hot_. And if it’s this Adam guy, then that’s her own business.”

Annie gave Lacey a grateful look.

Shirley shook her head. “Mind your own business, Lacey…”

“ _You_ should mind your own business! You’re such a hypocrite! Chastising her for not telling you! And yet you’re hooking up with Andre. Bet you didn’t know that, did you Annie?”

Annie’s eyes widened as she looked at Shirley incredulously. “Whaaaat?!?”

Shirley began to stammer. “Oooohhh…. Lacey…. Oooohh… It’s not like that… He’s my _husband_.”

Annie narrowed her eyes. “ _Ex_ -husband. And does it matter? You didn’t tell me about it.   Aren’t _friends_ supposed to confide in one another? You know, disclose that they’re _seeing someone?_ ”

“Shirley, tell her about him spending the night!”

“Oh Lord in heaven, Lacey if you don’t shut up…”

Annie smiled smugly, nodding at Lacey with appreciation before she turning back to Shirley. “This is just great, Shirley. Please tell me all about it.”

Lacey hastily grabbed Sophie and scuttled out of the room.

Shirley glared after her and the turned her attention back to Annie. She looked at her for several moments before she gulped and responded in a soft voice, “I am very sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s just so new. Us being together again. We’re not really sure what this means, so we haven’t wanted to involve anyone else yet. And if you must know I was concerned that you would judge me for going back to him.”

Annie nodded. “So you two want to keep it private so that you have space to figure it out?”

“Yes.”

“And you were concerned I might judge you?”

“Yes.”

Annie sighed as she raised her arms in the air before dropping them at her side. “Shirley, that’s exactly why _we_ didn’t tell _you_. Don’t you get it?”

“Oh.” Shirley paused before continuing, “Can I ask who _we_ is?’

Annie groaned as she rolled her eyes. “Fine. I would have preferred to consult with him about this first, but yes, it’s _Jeff_.”

Shirley closed her eyes with a pained expression. “Oh.”

“Shirley? Are you okay?”

Shirley opened her eyes and looked down at the table. “Um, yes. So you and Jeffrey are….”

“We’re seeing each other.”

“Seeing each other? Like dating?”

“Yes.”

“And he has a toothbrush…”

“Yes, Shirley, I’m sleeping with him. Are we good?”

“Oh dear Jesus!” 

****************************

After Annie settled Shirley down from her almost-heart attack, the two women sat more calmly at the kitchen table. There were two saucers and two empty cups in front of them. Lacey stood near the refrigerator balancing Sophie on her hip.

“Are you sure I can’t do anything else? I can make more tea…”

Shirley grimaced. “I’m fine, Lacey. Just recovering from my shock.”

“Okay.” Lacey collected a cup and saucer, moving them over to the sink.

Annie rolled her eyes. “You know, it’s not like I told you something _terrible_. You should be happy for me and Jeff. We like each other.”

“Swee-tie I know Jeffrey is attractive –“

There as a clang from the sink as Lacey placed the saucer in the bin.

\-- “And he is certainly persuasive. That man can talk a mile a minute and is definitely charming. But don’t you think he might not be the best match for you?”

Annie took a deep breath before she responded, “I already explained that we’re happy. So that’s a good match to me.”

“He’s a lot older than you.”

“He’s twelve years older. And I don’t care.”

“It might be better to be with someone your own age.”

Annie looked at Shirley incredulously. “Why would you think that? You know Jeff said the same thing a while ago when we first thought about it. And I’ll tell you what I told him. I’m not interested in boys my age. I have nothing in common with them. My whole life situation is completely different from a typical college sophomore.”

Shirley reluctantly nodded. “I can understand that.”

“And Jeff and I understand each other. We’re not perfect and we’ve messed up our lives. But that’s okay because we’re both trying to make things better.”

“Is it serious?”

Annie hesitated for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “We aren’t rushing into things. We’re just dating and figuring things out. That’s why we haven’t told the group yet. We were going to tell all of you soon.”

Shirley glared at her. “You’re sleeping with him. How is that not rushing things?”

Annie sighed. “I’m not going to get into this with you. We have different views on that.”

Shirley frowned. “He slept with Britta.”

“I know. He told me. And not that it’s any of your business, but it doesn’t bother me. He didn’t do anything wrong. We weren’t together at the time, and it didn’t work out between them.”

“I see. Then what about Sophie? Have you two discussed how this might effect her?”

Annie sighed loudly. “Yes, we have. I told you we’re still trying to figure things out. But we are aware that this situation is complicated. Which is another reason I don’t see myself with someone my age. I don’t think most of them could handle it.”

“I see. And what makes you think Jeffrey can handle it?” Shirley eyed Annie skeptically.

Annie bit her lip, taking a moment to carefully consider how she was going to phrase her reasoning in a way Shirley might understand.

She cleared her throat before she responded, “I think he gets it. Just in seeing how he is with Sophie versus how Vaughn approached the situation, for example. Jeff’s a lot more cautious about how we go about things with her. He knows it’s a big deal. And he’s had some experience on the other side of things as a child. I think he can anticipate what might come up for her. And while that’s no guarantee, it makes me feel better.”

Shirley looked wistfully off toward the stove. “He does seem to pay attention to that child. Did I ever tell you I caught him playing peek-a-boo with her last year? I think it was when the both of you were dating other people. It was sweet.”

Annie smiled softly as she shook her head. “I didn’t know that. Not that I’m that surprised.” She looked over toward the window thoughtfully. “See that’s exactly what I’m talking about when I say I think he knows what she needs. Or at least if he doesn’t know he tries to figure it out.”

Shirley snapped her eyes back to Annie, scowling. “But that man has certainly shown poor judgment with most of his adult life from what I can tell…”

Annie interjected, “Shirley! Everyone is entitled to a second chance! And I’ve made my share of mistakes too!”

“I don’t know what to think. You two are so different.”

“Maybe we’re not.”

Shirley sighed. “You are. But then I saw how much he seems to care for you and Sophie. And the look at that poor boy’s face on Saturday…” She shook her head.

Annie grabbed Shirley’s hand. “Then let us figure it out.”

The women were interrupted by the sound of someone entering the kitchen followed by a giggle from Lacey.

“Excuse me. Lacey told me I could just let myself in.”

“Jeff?”

The women’s eyes landed on Jeff, who stood tentatively in the doorway. He was wearing likely pre-distressed jeans and a designer hooded sweatshirt, clearly having come over in a hurry.

Lacey smiled guiltily at Shirley and Annie and shrugged. “I hope you guys don’t mind. I called him since I thought he should be part of this conversation.” She slid Annie’s phone over to her.

Annie opened her mouth wide. “Lacey!”

Jeff shook his head at Lacey and smiled apologetically. He then gave Sophie a quick kiss near her ear while making a slight growling noise.

Sophie giggled.

Lacey looked over to Shirley and Annie. “I’m sorry. But I still think he needs to be here. Goodness knows I’d want to be present if someone was talking about _me_. I’m going to take her into the other room. You guys need to talk.” With that Lacey helped Sophie wave _bye-bye_ and they exited the room.

Jeff turned to Annie and Shirley with his hands in his pockets. He looked at Annie with a puzzled expression. “So……? I thought we were going to meet up later.”

“I’m sorry. Shirley’s being obnoxious.”

“An-nie!”

Annie whipped her head toward Shirley. “You are. And we don’t need your blessing. But as a _friend_ it would be helpful if you could be more accepting. Or at least stop being all judgey.”

Shirley squinted at Annie. And then pouted.

Realization dawned on Jeff’s face. His eyes widened as he stared at Annie.

Annie nodded. “She knows.”

“Oh.” He let out a breath.

“She figured it out after realizing that I know your mom. And _snooping_ through my bathroom cabinets.”

Shirley sat up straighter, clasping her hands in front of her on the table. She cleared her throat. “Sit down, Jeffrey.”

Jeff let out a long sigh as he plopped himself into a chair. “Ooookay.” He gave Annie a slight smile before he turned his attention to Shirley. “You know?”

“Yes. And I think it’s something we all should discuss. To make sure this is an arrangement that is in the best interests of An-nie and So-phie.”

Jeff pursed his lips as he began to fidget with the tablecloth. “Goddamn it Shirley. This is between me and Annie. We were probably going to tell you next week. But this behavior is exactly why we’ve been putting it off.”

“Jeffrey! I’m just trying to make sure no one gets hurt.”

Annie winced. “But see that’s not up to you.”

Jeff nodded as he took Annie’s hand and began rubbing it with his thumb.

Shirley startled at the action, widening her eyes as she stared at their hands entwined. “Oh!” She looked up at their faces, noticing the warm way they were regarding each other. “You two are sweet, I must say.”

She witnessed Jeff’s cheeks redden as he shifted his eyes over to the side.

Annie kept her gaze fixed on Shirley as she leaned her head down on Jeff’s shoulder.

The two women looked at each other for a few moments in silence.

Shirley cleared her throat and moved her eyes to Jeff. “Can I ask you something?”

Jeff turned his gaze back to her, keeping his hand locked with Annie’s. “Sure.”

“Do you want the best for An-nie and So-phie?”

“Of course.”

“Promise me that you’ll try not to be a jackass.”

Jeff let out a low laugh. “I’m trying every day. I’m not sure if I’m completely successful…”

Annie swatted him on the chest as she attempted to hold back her growing grin. Jeff smirked at her before he placed a kiss on her forehead and pulled her back down to his shoulder.

Shirley wiped a tear forming in her eye. “I’m so sorry. Jeffrey, I saw on Saturday how much you care about this sweet girl. And I can certainly tell you two are smitten. I’ll try to be a good friend and support you two.”

Annie and Jeff exchanged surprised glances.

_Smitten?_

They both pushed that word out of their minds and focused back on Shirley.

Annie grabbed one of Shirley’s hands with her free hand. “Thank you.”

Shirley looked over to Jeff. “But if you hurt her, I swear there will be hell to pay. Do you hear?”

Jeff rolled his eyes. 

************************

In the end, they decided on a truce regarding butting in to each other’s romantic lives. Shirley agreed not to share her knowledge of their relationship with anyone else for now, understanding Annie’s concerns about Britta’s reaction. Annie and Jeff assured her they would work to soften the potential blow before anything was to be revealed but that they would tell Britta within the next week.

After they left, Annie shared with Jeff that Shirley and Andre were apparently testing the waters for reconciliation. And that Shirley didn’t want that information getting around campus.

Jeff shook his head as they walked into Annie’s apartment. He plopped Sophie’s bag on the table.

“Wow, two maternal kitchen conversations in less than a week. I don’t know what to think.”

Annie placed Sophie in the playpen, handing her Ruthie and assuring her she’d be right back. She then walked over to sit on the arm of the couch.

She sighed. “Well at least that’s done.”  
  
Jeff strolled over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. “True. Now we’ll see if she can hold back her judgey ways. I’m not optimistic on that front, but whatever.”

Annie looked up at him and smirked. “At least I kind of blackmailed her. That might work.”

He laughed. “Yeah. I’m proud of you on that one.”

“We need to tell Britta.”

“Yup.”

“And you said Pierce knows?”

He nodded as he began to caress her hair. “I think.”

“So then there’s just Britta to worry about.”

“What about the dynamic duo?”

Annie rolled her eyes and smiled. “Oh come on, Jeff. It’s obvious they already know.”

 

 


	15. Not-So-Revealing Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Secrets” come out

Within the next week, several things happened, all unexpected.

The first was that Dr. Bauer fled Colorado for Mimpousa, Congo. Professor Duncan ended up as the reluctant replacement anthropology instructor. Abed was crushed.

The second was that Piece’s mother died, plunging Troy into existential despair as Pierce burrowed further into the coping mechanisms of his cult, err, religion. Abed wasn’t available to help Troy through his crisis.

The third was that Shirley kept her mouth shut about Annie and Jeff.

And the fourth was that Britta and Annie volunteered to fundraise together and _didn’t_ end up wrestling each other in an ill-timed oil spill. Instead, after a brief skirmish, which resulted in the oil tank toppling over, they helped each other out and went off to clean up and then grab ice cream.

Pierce, Troy, Jeff, and Duncan looked on with confused and disappointed faces.

After taking showers and changing into their gym clothes, Britta and Annie made their way to the cafeteria. As they settled into a booth with their sundaes, Annie glanced nervously around to make sure they had some privacy.

“That was kind of fun, wasn’t it? We raised so much money!” She clapped her hands together several times.

Britta snorted. “True. But I think the best part was the look on the guys’ faces when they realized we weren’t going to give them a free show.”

Annie put one hand up to her mouth in order to stifle a laugh. “Yeah. That was pretty awesome. Although, ewwww…. About Pierce…”

Britta scrunched up her face. “Ewwww…”

Annie scooped up some of her ice cream from her sundae. Looking down, she spoke carefully, “Speaking of boys, it seemed earlier today you were still upset about me dating Vaughn. That’s what that whole thing was about, right?”

Britta watched the top of Annie’s head as Annie continued to look down at her sundae. “I’m sorry for picking on you earlier. I was being a jerk.”

Annie glanced up and shrugged. “It’s okay. You can’t help it if it bothers you. I guess I’m glad we can get it out in the open.”

“It’s not about Vaughn.”

“Oh?”

“No, of course not. He’s long gone by now anyway, and I really meant it when I told you last year we were cool.”

Annie hesitated before asking with a slight tremble, “So what’s it about then?”

Britta rolled her eyes and then began looking around the cafeteria while stabbing at her sundae. “I think we both know. And look, I feel like a jackass. But it’s a little weird.”

Annie regarded her with a puzzled expression. “What’s weird?”

Britta turned her eyes back on her and said somberly, “You know I only slept with Jeff because I hate myself. That’s why I got so mad at you for whoring out our gender today.”

Annie gasped. “You hate yourself?”

Britta shrugged and smiled weakly. “Sometimes. But I’m working on it. Maybe more of what I mean is that I _disgust_ myself. And I’ve never had a close girlfriend before. All of my previous female friendships have ended due to someone getting jealous of me getting a little too close to some coveted dude. But hey, now the shoe’s on the other foot…”

“Hm?”

“I guess I got all mad because we’re letting men come between us.”

“But you said you were cool about me and Vaughn.”

Britta let out a loud groan. “Annie, you and Jeff clearly have something going on. His phone backdrop is a picture of you and Sophie.”

Annie startled, placing her hand on her upper chest. “You saw that?”

Britta nodded. “Yes, I see _lots of things_. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Annie took a deep breath and then bit her lip. She looked down, fidgeting with her spoon. “We didn’t want to announce it for a little while. But then we both felt bad keeping it from you guys. Actually, I was going to tell you right now. Or at least in a few minutes.”

“You were?”

Annie looked at Britta and spoke softly. “Yeah. I thought it might be best if you and I talked about this in private, you know, not in front of the whole group.”

Britta nodded. “So just to confirm, you and Jeff are like a _thing?_ ”

“Yeah. We’ve been just seeing where it goes.”

Britta frowned. “I get the impression you guys aren’t just hooking up.”

Annie shook her head. “We actually tried that, but then it kinda turned into something else. Or maybe it always was something else and we just didn’t want to admit it.”

Britta shoved her sundae off to the side. She leaned forward and put her elbows on the table, chin on her hands. Despite the directness of her posture, she rolled her eyes as she spoke. “You were encouraging me to be with him last year.”

Annie grimaced as she tried to catch Britta’s eye. “I didn’t really think he and I would ever work, so I thought you two deserved a chance. That sounds weird now, but that was the logic behind it. Now I feel kinda terrible.”

Britta sighed as she met Annie’s gaze. “It’s bizarre all right. But I guess I’ll take it as a compliment that you’d rather give him to me if you couldn’t have him for yourself.”

Annie snorted, turning pink. “Maybe.”

“I can work with that.”

“I’m so sorry the way this went down. I know you’re mad at me, and it’s okay…”

Britta let out a long sigh as she leaned back in the booth.  She turned sideways and scooted back so that her back was pressed against the wall. She then plopped her feet on the seat.

“Annie, I know I shouldn’t be upset. Jeff and I didn’t have even a _thing_ really. Well, I guess we had some weird flirtation last year and then we both told you about paintball…”

Annie swatted the air. “Ewww… I told Jeff I don’t want to talk about that again.”

Britta kicked at the booth cushions with her gym shoe-clad foot. “I don’t blame you. And it wasn’t a great experience for me, either. But I guess I just thought _you and I_ were closer than that. That you would tell me if you and Jeff got together.”

Realization dawned on Annie’s face. She felt her lip quiver as she uttered weakly, “You mean you’re hurt I didn’t tell you?”

Britta crossed her arms. “Well yeah.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you. I thought you’d feel betrayed if you knew.”

“No, it’s actually more of a problem that you _didn’t_ tell me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Britta shrugged as she moved back to a normal sitting position opposite Annie. She uncrossed her arms and resumed eating her sundae. “You know what? Life’s too short to let men divide us. Let’s just move on.”

Annie nodded slightly and then looked at Britta out of the corner of her eye. “Actually, there’s something else you should know…”

Britta kept her eyes fixed on her ice cream. She mumbled between bites, “You mean that you guys made out during the Tranny Dance?”

Annie’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”

Britta glanced up. “In case you haven’t noticed, Leonard has a big mouth. He told me the first day we were back at school.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”   Annie’s voice rose noticeably with a screechy pitch at the end of her sentence.

Britta winced. “Why bother? I figured either you guys were impulsively stupid that night or there was more going on in which case I’d find out sooner rather than later. And I guess we go with answer number two…”

“I didn’t sleep with him that night.”

“It’s none of my business.”

“But I want you to know. Once I found out he slept with you, I told him we should slow things down and he needed to clear things up with you. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

Britta leaned back and stared at the ceiling. She slapped her hand on the table. “Now it all makes sense! That’s why he was so earnest with me the next day. I know you told him to make things right with me, but now I realize you refused him _sex_ until he did it.”

Annie shook her head. “It wasn’t like that. We didn’t have sex for weeks.”

“I must say I’m surprised.”

“When did you know about us?” Annie looked at her sheepishly.

Britta scanned the room as she spoke. “I didn’t _know_ for sure until just now. I guess I had my suspicions this past summer when I saw you and Jeff together at those gatherings we had, especially Sophie’s birthday party. You two were awfully cozy and it was obvious Sophie was comfortable with him, which means she was seeing him a lot over the summer. And then there was the facebook picture. And just in general how the two of you are together.”

“We’ve been trying to be discrete.”

Britta let out a quick laugh. “You aren’t that discrete. Everyone kind of knows. I saw you guys in the lounge the other day. You had your head resting on his shoulder, and he was _petting_ your hair. The day I’d ever see Jeff Winger doing something like that, well let’s just say I pretty much _knew_. And of course there’s the whole Sophie thing. Abed called that one out pretty accurately.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

Britta resumed stabbing her sundae. “Jeff’s never denied it. I’ve kinda asked him about you here and there since last spring. He basically told me last year he’d try something with you if he didn’t have to worry about what would happen with Sophie.”

Annie’s mouth fell open. “He did?”

Britta stilled her spoon. “Pretty much. But it seems like he’s resolved that concern.”

Annie nodded. “Are we okay?”

Britta smiled tightly. “Yeah, of course. I just hope you know what you’re doing with him. It’s none of my business, but you know that guy has a wild past.”

“We’re just dating. That’s all I can handle right now.”

“Got it.”

Suddenly, Britta’s phone buzzed. She excused herself and turned to flip open her outdated flip phone. She smirked as she read the incoming text. She typed something back. A moment later there was another buzz. She read the message and then rolled her eyes.

She muttered, “Idiot.”

“Britta?”

Britta turned back to Annie and flipped her phone closed, stuffing it into her pocket.

“Sorry about that.”

“What was that about?”

“It goes along with the whole theme of the day. Men are idiots. They never know what they want, only that it involves _oil_. Remember that, Annie. No matter how sickeningly sweet Jeff is with you, deep down he’s a horny devil.”

Annie squinted at her in slight confusion. “I will.”

Britta’s eyes zapped open. “Speaking of devils, you’re going to have to tell Shirley! Do you need some help? I can go with you.”

Annie found herself touched by Britta’s surprising offer of assistance. “Actually, we already told her. She’s doing her best not to be too judgey. And we swore her to secrecy until we told you.”

“Hey! You mean you guys think I’m worse than _Shirley_?!?”

“Britta….”

In that moment Annie was aware she had seriously misjudged Britta. She found herself tearing slightly, overcome with the realization that she had a true girlfriend. 

**************************

Having finished his ice cream and ditched Pierce and Troy, Jeff strolled over to the Dirty Cowgirl with Ian.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of you, Winger. Your mum is pleased you’ve come clean. She told me all about it.”

“Great.”

“She didn’t get into the details about why you and Big Boobs went to see her, but she indicated your confession was not exactly planned or necessarily voluntary.”

Jeff sat down at the bar and motioned over the bartender. He ordered two beers and then turned to Ian. He grimaced.

“Can you please do me a favor? Can you please start referring to her as _Annie_? I assume you’re capable of it. I doubt you call her _Big Boobs_ in front of my mom.”

Ian grinned impishly. “Sure thing. I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Thank you.” Jeff gave him a mock half-bow from his seated position. He then accepted his beer from the bartender and pushed the other toward Ian.

After a couple rounds and a shot or two, both of them were feeling more loose-lipped.

“Don’t fuck it up, Winger. Dorie’s cautiously optimistic. And I will emphasize the _cautiously_.” Ian gulped back some beer and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I told her not to make a big deal out of it.”

“She’s not in the sense you’re maybe thinking of. After your revelations last Thanksgiving, she’s done a lot of second-guessing about her wishes for you to be in a relationship. I don’t think she knows if you’re capable of it. And she _adores_ Annie.”

Jeff paled. “Did she say that? She doesn’t think I’m capable?”

“That bothers you?”

“Of course it bothers me. My own mother thinks I’m a fuck up. She should know I’d never hurt Annie.”

“Oh come on Winger. Look at your track record. You have to admit your mum has grounds to seriously doubt your ability to see things through.”

Jeff’s eyes widened. “See things through? What do you mean?”

“The long-haul, my friend.”

Jeff slammed back the remainder of his beer and summoned the bartender over. He began to speak quickly. “Did you know I have high cholesterol? They told me today at student health.”

“You mentioned it earlier….”

“And Pierce’s mom _died_.”

“I’m not following….”

Jeff turned to face Ian, his eyes wide and brow glistening. “ _Long-haul_. Did you know there’s only two ways this will go with Annie. Either I’ll break her heart or eventually we’ll probably get…” He gulped before continuing as he pulled on his shirt collar, “ _married._ And not necessarily live happily ever after. Cause I don’t even know how to do _that._ ”

Ian shrugged. “You might live happily ever after. It happens.”

Jeff accepted his fresh beer from the bartender. He took a sip. “Whatever. But I’ll die anyway.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “Do you even know how Big… _Annie_ feels about marriage?”

“Nope. But there’s the Sophie factor. That’s what that kid needs. Did you know that the hippie pretty much proposed to her? She freaked out…”

“Ahhh…but was it that or was it _him_?”

“No clue.” Jeff gulped back more beer.   “Maybe we should do another shot.”

Ian waived at him dismissively. “Do _you_ want to get married? Was that ever in your life plan, Winger?”

Jeff hunched forward over his beer. “It’s _Annie_. I can’t break her heart….”

“You do have it bad. And you’re thinking way too far ahead. You’re being bona fide ridiculous, my boy.”

“Shut up.”

“Cheer up. Maybe she’ll break your heart. That might be better.”

Jeff mumbled, “Sometimes I think she’s only half-in whatever we’re doing anyway. It’s like she’s someplace else.”

Ian raised his eyebrows. “This is news.”

“It’s true. She keeps things from me. About Sophie’s father and other stuff. It’s like she doesn’t want me involved in all that.”

Ian nodded and ordered two more shots. He then turned back to Jeff. “Makes sense. Because she’s not sure how long you’ll be in her life. Why make it messier?”

Jeff cringed. “So you think she’s planning an escape route?”

Ian shrugged as he sipped his beer. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Maybe not an escape route, per se, but she’s keeping her eye on the exit. Knowing where it is and making sure there isn’t any furniture blocking it.”

Jeff remarked bitterly, “I’m not a couch.”

“If it bothers you, tell her.”

“I can’t.”

“Of course not. Because then you’d have to convince her she doesn’t need an exit. And you’re not so sure of that.”

“Goddammit. We’re fine most of the time. But then she gets all weird. And then I try to…”

Ian’s face brightened in realization. “Oh, boy! I see what is going on here! It’s a classic disorganized attachment, my friend. She pulls away from you, and I bet you feel an intense _yearning_ to get her back.”

Jeff shrugged. “Maybe.”

Ian pointed his index finger in the air. “The danger there is that you could prematurely commit if you make decisions solely from that place of _yearning_.”

“That’s not what…”

\-- “You have abandonment issues, my friend. And clearly she does as well. You two are _classic_.”

Jeff groaned. “What the hell am I supposed to do? Do you know we’ve been together five months? _Five months_ , Ian. That’s insane. By Thanksgiving it will be six months. By Christmas it will be seven. By…”

Ian shoved him in the shoulder. “These anxiety spirals have to stop. You really need therapy, my friend.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about it since the chicken fingers escapade.”

“I can recommend someone.”

“I’m surprised you’re not offering to shrink me yourself.”

Ian coughed. “I’ve learned my lesson there. Did you know there’s an ethics code? I could lose my license.”

Jeff eyed Ian with frustration. “I’m not serious about you shrinking me. I’m a lawyer remember. We have a dual relationship. I guess technically now you’re my _professor_. And whatever the hell else we are. It would be completely unethical.”

Ian’s tone took on a jaded edge, as he remarked, “Never mix business with pleasure, Jeffrey. Two year waiting periods remain in effect in the State of Colorado. Damn frustrating, it is.”

“That’s only if we were to have sex.”

“I wasn’t talking about _you._ I have no desire to take our relationship to that level.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand then what you meant….”

\-- “So when’s the wedding?”

“You’re an ass, Ian.” 

*****************************

“Ladies, gentlemen, Pierce. Before we begin today’s study session, Annie and I have an announcement to make.”

Annie eyed Jeff nervously while she maneuvered Sophie on her lap.

Abed nodded vigorously. He surreptitiously took out his phone, holding it up and hitting video record.

Pierce and Troy looked on with wide grins.

Shirley and Britta cast glances at each other, smiling weakly.

Jeff smirked at Annie and then turned back to the group. He cleared his throat. “We would just like to confirm that yes, Annie and I are dating.”

Shirley nodded with a neutral expression. She mumbled, “That’s nice.”

Britta let out a soft laugh of relief and shook her head.

Troy and Abed high-fived as Abed continued to record.

Pierce, a confused expression on his face, muttered, “Well didn’t we all know that already? I thought you were going to announce your engagement. Jeffrey, I have an ‘in’ with a great jeweler. I get a bulk rate, actually. Let’s head down there after anthropology…”

Jeff held up his hand as he widened his eyes. “Pierce! There will be no _engagements_. I know you usually skip over the courtship part but some of us mere mortals actually like to get to know people we’re involved with.” He looked over at Annie to see she was holding up a hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh.

Jeff glanced around the group. “So, we’re all okay? For the record, Annie and I don’t intend to have anything disrupt the group. As far as we’re concerned, we can all carry on as usual.”

The group members mumbled their understanding.

Jeff sighed. “Good.” He turned to Annie, “See? That wasn’t so bad after all.”

She smiled. “Thanks guys.”

Jeff continued, “Yes, thank you all for your understanding and I am sure your respect for our _privacy_ as Annie and I pursue our relationship.”

At that moment, there was a thud against the study room door. Everyone turned, perplexed.

Britta’s eyes widened. “Oh my god! The Dean’s on the floor!” She jumped up and ran over to him. “Someone help me! Does anyone have any smelling salts?” 

*****************************

Jeff opened the door to his apartment with a lazy grin. “Glad the girls didn’t keep you forever.”

Annie smiled as she stepped inside. “Yeah, looks like we’ll still have time for dinner. At least you and me. I had to make sure she ate something before we came over.”

Jeff greeted Sophie and then took her from Annie. He walked over to the living room and called over his shoulder, “You know it probably would be okay if you guys stayed over. She’ll be fine in the cagepen for one night.”

“Jeff…..”

“We can put her in my room if you think she’ll freak out. Otherwise it’s going to be really late by the time you leave.”

Annie kicked off her shoes and placed her bag on the floor. She took a deep breath before she settled herself down on the couch. She eyed Jeff as he sat on the floor while attempting to direct Sophie toward her beanbag.

“Don’t you want to know what we talked about?”

“Not really. Should I?"

Annie recalled in her mind one particularly interesting part of her evening with Britta and Shirley:

 

_“I can’t believe you asked Annie that!”_

_“Now, Brit-ta, she knows she doesn’t have to answer. It’s just it seems I am the only one here who has not slept with Jeffrey. And I was merely wondering what all the fuss was about.”_

_“There is no fuss. For a guy who gets around, he’s surprisingly quick about the whole thing.”_

_“He is not! He’s actually very attentive…”_

_“Whoa! Really?”_

_“Don’t whoa her, Brit-ta. An-nie swee-tie, when you say he’s attentive, do you mean…”_

_“It’s good. Like more than good….. Oh, I’m sorry, Britta! I’m being insensitive.”_

_“Nah. I would hope he’s better at it with you. I would assume something is making you put up with the jackass.”_

_“So swee-tie when you said it’s good how good are we talking?”_

_“Um…”_

 

Annie turned slightly pink at the memory, deciding to keep it to herself.

She cleared her throat. “Surprise surprise, it was you.”

“I see.”

“You’re loving this.”

“Actually the idea of the three of you discussing me is a little terrifying. Were they trying to talk some sense into you?”

Annie laughed. “No, actually. They both seem resigned to the situation.”

Jeff remarked sardonically, “Well that sounds frickin’ fantastic.”

“It’s better than I thought. Britta’s not mad at me anymore. I’m so relieved.”

Jeff smirked. “Well good, I’m glad the two of you made up. Now you can both bother Shirley about this Andre situation.”

Annie’s eyes widened in horror. “I was serious when I told Shirley I wasn’t going to tell anyone!”

Jeff shook his head and let out a low laugh. “You’re too good for this world, Annie. At least make sure you use it to your advantage. Shirley’s a pretty good student. Maybe she could do an assignment for you.”

Annie huffed indignantly. “I don’t _cheat_! You’re insane and don’t know me at all if you…”

Jeff leaned over from his position on the floor and grabbed her ankle. “Hey, I was just kidding. Calm the f--- _frick_ down.” He shot a glance over to Sophie who had begun to toddle back over to him.

Jeff took a few moments to redirect her to a somewhat loud buzzy contraption-thingy Britta had given her at her birthday party. Jeff noted with momentary puzzlement that the toy had somehow found its way into his apartment.

He moved to sit on the couch next to Annie. He then scooted a little closer.

Annie looked at him tentatively. “You want us to stay over?”

“Um hm.” He leaned in and pressed him mouth against hers. He began moving his hand up her thigh, pleased she was wearing her opaque black tights and a short skirt.

Annie sighed into his mouth as they deepened the kiss. She began to lift her leg around his body as he moved to hover over her.

There was a sudden loud siren sound coming from Sophie’s toy. Annie startled before she realized what it was.

She laughed as she stopped their make out. “Did you mean it about putting Sophie in the bedroom with us?”

Jeff sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’d rather not. And I meant when she was _sleeping_. That toy is banned from my room. But I just don’t want her to freak out.”

“She would.”

Jeff looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe we could put her in there a little later though? If you and I carefully move her, she won’t wake up?”

“Jeff….”

“Come on. It’ll be scandalous.”

Annie bit her lip. “I hope she doesn’t get too upset about missing her crib. I might have to take her into bed with us.”

“Annie!”

She opened her eyes wide, giving him her best Disney face. “You don’t want to upset her would you? I just meant if she starts crying. We can try it out in her playpen.”

“Cagepen.”

“Jeff!” She swatted at his chest.

“Fine. I don’t want the hobbit to cry.”

She nodded, suppressing a grin. “Thank you. Sophie and I appreciate your sensitivity.”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” He began to pepper her neck with kisses. “I miss you when you’re not around.”

She smiled, feeling the tickly sensation of his lips. “I miss you too.”

He mumbled between kisses, “My place is boring without you here. You should stay here more often. I’d even consider buying a crib.”

Suddenly his eyes flew open. “Um, what I meant was…”

Annie felt her stomach tighten. She blurted out, “I have a paper to work on tomorrow.”

Jeff sighed with some relief at the abrupt topic change. He leaned back so that he could see her face. “Come on, Annie, tomorrow’s Saturday. And you don’t have to work until Sunday.”

“That’s why I’m planning to use the time to work on my paper.”

Jeff grimaced. “All day?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Don’t get all pouty about it.”

“I’m not.”

She caressed his chest. “I need at least the morning. I might be able to go even faster if you wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on Sophie? At least a little bit? Or I can take her to Nancy’s.”

Jeff tightened his face. “You don’t need to take her to Nancy’s. You know that. Let’s make a deal. I’ll watch her if you guys stay over tonight and you work on your paper _here_ tomorrow. I’m not spending all day at Dildopolis. And I can save some serious cash with Thanos.”

She grinned. “Deal. Thank you.”

“And then we’ll be here for naptime.”

She scooted up and whispered in his ear. “And I’ll wear my new dark blue lace panties. Someone left them on my nightstand.”

Jeff gulped, his voice trembling slightly, “Eminently sensible.”

“You’re a smart one, Jeff Winger.”

“Esquire.”


	16. Side Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff answer questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologize for the delay in posting this week. Might post another chapter (it’s almost ready) by the end of the weekend.

Britta slowly made her way through the grocery store aisles. She placed one hand on her head, acutely aware of the clanging noises around her. She was ruing the time she spent last night indulging at The Red Door after Annie and Shirley had gone home.

And she had been thinking about the whole Annie and Jeff _thing_. Sure, she had her suspicions long before Annie owned up to it, but it was still new. And she stuck by her opinion that it was weird to see Jeff play a caretaking role with Annie’s kid. She remembered what Slater had shared with her about Jeff sleeping with her, flirting with Britta, and playing house with Annie.

Well, Britta supposed, at least Jeff was no longer compartmentalizing. She wondered when he started to mature. She was guessing she missed it. That or maybe he was merely _attempting_ to mature.

As she continued to wince at the various loud noises in the store, she heard a familiar snarky voice from the next aisle.

“I don’t really think we should get those.”

There was a pause. Britta couldn’t hear what the other person was saying. She cranked her head to the side. Again, she heard Jeff’s voice,

“Those don’t fit into my ideas for dinner. Cheez-Its and chicken tacos don’t go together.”

Britta frowned. She began to bury her head into the back of the canned peas so that she could get as close as possible to Jeff’s voice.

“Honey, you will have to trust me on this. You’re very cute, but you lack life experience.”

Britta’s mouth flew open.

 _Honey?_ Since when does Jeff Winger get all sappy?

And how dare he talk to Annie like that with the belittling of her life experience? Annie had been through more than most women her age. What the hell kind of skewed relationship did they have? And if she wanted to eat chicken tacos and Cheez-Its who cares?

Britta glanced down into her grocery cart, spying its contents.

Yes, that combination was perfectly acceptable.

In a ball of righteous indignation, Britta rounded the corner with her cart. She stopped abruptly in front of Jeff. She gulped as she saw Sophie sitting in the child carrier section in the front of his cart.

Jeff and Sophie.

No Annie to be seen.

“Britta?”

Jeff raised his eyebrows and looked at her with surprise. Sophie turned her head and smiled.

_“Hi.”_

Britta waved to Sophie. “Hi Sophie.” She pushed her cart up to them and looked at Jeff. “Hey.”

He eyed her up and down, noting her crumpled shirt and sunglasses. “Hey there. You look awesome.”

“Shut up.”

Jeff smirked. “I know for a fact that you didn’t stay out late with Annie last night. And I’m pretty sure you weren’t hanging out with Shirley, since she’s a teetotaler.”

“I have other friends.”

“I see.”

“What are you guys doing? Where’s Annie?”

“We’re grocery shopping. Annie’s at home working on a paper.”

“You’re babysitting?”

Jeff rolled his eyes.   “I’m keeping her occupied so her mother can get some work done. And we need food. Win-win.” He bent down and placed his face near Sophie. Squinting his eyes and affecting an overly serious facial expression he asked, “Isn’t that right, munchkin? We’re shopping?”

Sophie giggled and nodded.

Jeff continued squinting at her and held back a smile for a moment before he stood back up and looked over at the produce bin. He picked up an onion and threw it in the cart.

Britta stared at the interaction in disbelief. “So where’s _home_? Cause she said last night she was heading over to your place.”

“What is your problem?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering if Annie was at _her home_ or _your home_ and if there was any difference…”

Jeff kept his voice light and began to affect a sing-songy tone as he handed Sophie her bear. “Cut it out, Britta. In answer to your implied question, of course we have separate domiciles. But if you must know, yes, she’s at my place right now. It’s a much nicer environment from which to work.”

“I see.”

“So I take it you have a problem with us? You told Annie you didn’t mind.”

“I’m just realizing you guys are speedily moving along. Which surprises me. And frankly, unnerves me.”

“Bite me.” He began to push his cart down the aisle.

Britta followed. “So you aren’t as mature as you’ve been pretending. Good. Let’s have some honesty. What are you doing with Annie?”

Jeff sighed as he stopped the cart. “We’ve been over this in numerous subtle and not-so-subtle ways by now, Britta. _Yes,_ I have feelings for her, okay?”

“I know that idiot.”

He shrugged and then began looking at heads of lettuce. “Then I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

“You’ve seriously given up other women?”

He turned and stared at her with a look of bemusement. “Are you propositioning me?   Cause I’m going to have to call Annie right now…” He started to take out his phone.

Britta slapped his arm. “Shut up. _No_ , I am not propositioning you.”

He grinned and then turned back to inspecting another head of lettuce. “Yes, I’ve given up other women.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You know I did with Michelle as well. This isn’t news.”

“How long do you think you can hold out? Annie’s been cheated on before you know.”

He paused and straightened up. Glancing up at the overhead lights, he bit his lip. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m the one who suggested we be exclusive. There were no ultimatums; there were no dictations from Annie. It just made sense.”

Britta’s eyes widened. “Oh god.”

He glanced down at her and squinted. “What?”

“You’re….”

_“Dee Deeff!”_

They both startled and looked at Sophie.

Jeff patted her gingerly on the head. “Sorry for ignoring you, my baby hobbit. Aunt Britta is just being a busy body. She’s morphing into Aunt Shirley as we speak.”

“Did she just call you _dee deeff_?”

“That seems to be the latest. Two syllables are easier to shriek than three.”

“What does it mean exactly?”

Jeff shrugged. “I dunno. Don’t really care.” He tossed a head of lettuce into the cart and resumed moving down the aisle.

As Britta made efforts to catch up to them, Sophie called out, “ _tit-ta!”_

“What did she just call me?!?”

“Oh this is good stuff. I’m texting Pierce!” 

**************************

“Annie! Hold up!”

Annie stopped and turned in the hallway. “Yes, Dean?”

The Dean closed the gap between them, stopping with some labored breathing. He placed a hand on his chest.

“I just wanted to apologize for my health scare on Friday. I was so embarrassed.” He swatted the air and looked away, blushing.

Annie’s eyes widened. “Oh, that’s fine. You have nothing to apologize for. You fainted.”

He turned his gaze back to her, tilting his head to the side. “Yes, yes, well thank you. Low blood sugar.”

Annie smiled.

He leaned toward her and lowered his voice, “Ahem, I couldn’t help overhearing before my hypoglycemia kicked in that you and Jeffrey were an _item_?”

Annie continued to smile but began to scan the hallway as she answered him. “Um, yes. We are.”

“How wonderful. You two are just so cute. And keeping it in the study group, that makes sense.

“Dean….”

“Annie, I know we don’t usually have time to hang out, but if you ever want to come by and chat, you’re always welcome. I feel you and I are kindred spirits in a lot of ways. Remember how we bonded so quickly in your interview? We can swap stories. I have a tragic romantic past, let me tell you…”

Annie smiled politely. “Oh, um, maybe. I have to get to class.”

She scurried away.

He shouted after her, “Right. Remember whenever you want, come on by….” 

*************************

“I’m thinking some of this orange fabric might be nice.”

Dorie nodded as Annie showed her the piece of material. They were in the craft store, and Jeff was keeping Sophie occupied at the toddler playground next door.

“Still thinking a pumpkin?”

Annie did a little hop and smiled. “Yes! I thought it’d make a comfy costume since she could basically just wear footed green pajamas all day, and we can put the pumpkin part over that. She’ll be really cute, won’t she?”

Dorie laughed, touched by Annie’s enthusiasm and clear affection for her daughter. “She will.”

Annie’s smile began to transform into a smirk. “Jeff wanted to dress her as an old lady. He says her purple-checkered dress makes her look like a granny. You know, since the hem falls mid-calf. He says it’s not flattering. Of course he knows stuff like that.” Annie rolled her eyes.

Dorie shook her head. “Leave it to my son to know fashion.”

Annie placed her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter. “What really won him over to the pumpkin idea was that I explained if she went as an old lady we’d have to hide her precious curls under a _wig._ ”

Dorie remarked sardonically, “That would be horrendous.” She began looking through some other fabric swatches as she stated, “Wait until next year when she has a little more of an idea what’s going on. And has little friends. They’ll all be so adorable.”

Annie clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait. I didn’t dress her up last year since she was so little. I just put a little hat on her.”

Dorie nodded and smiled. “I’ll show you the pattern I found. We can get it ready by next week, you’ll see.”

Annie let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks so much for helping me with this. And thanks again for agreeing to watch her during our Halloween party.”

Dorie swatted the air. “Of course. I think you and Jeffrey should do more things together, without Sophie. That child, as adorable as she is, takes up a lot of attention. It would be good for the two of you to be alone.”

“Or with one hundred of our classmates.” Annie rolled her eyes.

“Well, maybe take some time afterward?” Dorie made a sweeping motion with her hand. “Go out and do something fun.”

Annie was conscious of her mixed feelings of giddiness and guilt. Although she knew Jeff’s mom adored Sophie, she didn’t want to abuse her willingness to babysit for free. She had already been feeling like she had been taking advantage of Lacey, which was one reason she decided not to have Lacey watch Sophie that night. The other reason was because the kids went out to trick-or-treat in Shirley’s neighborhood and she didn’t want Lacey to have to watch Sophie and hand out candy to kids.

Despite her feelings of discomfort in relying on Dorie to look after Sophie, Annie also felt a sense of joy at the thought of being able to just have fun with her classmates and more importantly, with Jeff. She flashed back to their first dance together the previous Halloween and although she had to admit it was chaste, she had noticed a spark at the time. Now that they were _together_ she wondered what it would be like to dance with one another.

Annie startled herself out of her thoughts enough to check in with Dorie regarding her suggestion. “Good idea. If you don’t mind if we come back later?”

“I’m packing my over night back, dear. I’ll be staying at Jeffrey’s regardless. Doesn’t matter to me when you two come back.”

Annie watched as Dorie continued to peruse the fabric selections. She took a deep breath and then offered tentatively, “I know you said you’d feel more comfortable watching her at Jeff’s, but if we stay out late maybe you could just watch her at my place?   And then Jeff could take you back to his apartment afterward?”

Dorie continued to inspect fabric swatches, feeling them with her fingers. “Why would I do that, dear?”

“She doesn’t usually sleep over at Jeff’s because she doesn’t have a crib there. So we’d have to take her home later and it might be disruptive.”

Dorie nodded. “I see. Well certainly I can watch her at your place.”

Annie bit her lip. “I know it’s _Dildopolis_ …”

“Nonsense. I’ll make due.”

“Thanks.”

Dorie smirked as she continued to examine fabrics. “And I can send Jeffrey back over to you once he takes me home.”

Annie remained silent as she felt the heat rising in her cheeks.

Dorie glanced at her. Keeping an even tone, she remarked, “You talk to him about that. I don’t mind. And it’ll give me plenty of time to snoop through his apartment. Goodness knows I’ll need it since apparently now I won’t be there all evening.”

Annie stared at her for a moment, not quite sure if she was joking. She imagined these sorts of comments drove Jeff more than a little crazy.

Dorie moved on with a blank expression, “So how are things with you two? I don’t want to pry.”

“Um, things are going well.”

Annie wasn’t sure how much else to say to her about things. Jeff always mentioned his mother was nosey, but so far Annie hadn’t experienced her that way at all; she saw her more as caring and deliberately trying not to be too intrusive in Jeff’s life. But her comment about rifling through Jeff’s apartment left her a little on edge.

Dorie hesitated before speaking, “Ian tells me you and Jeffrey finally told all your friends. And that you both seem to be now embracing this _relationship_ label.”

“Um hm.” Annie wasn’t sure where this was going.

“I’m still ticked at Ian for not telling me what apparently he had strong suspicions about for months.”

“We didn’t want to put pressure on things.” _There, I’ll just put that out there again. She’ll understand._

“And now?” Dorie eyed her curiously.

“I’d like us to continue to do what you suggested, go slowly. Just date.”

“Good.”

Despite feeling guarded for the past couple minutes, Annie suddenly felt the paradoxical urge to confide in Dorie. She supposed it had something to do with Dorie not probing too much into her feelings about the relationship. She imagined it was all too convenient for Jeff to not tell his mother anything.

Annie took a deep breath. “There’s something I think you should know. Your son has high cholesterol, and they put him on medication. As you can probably guess, he’s thrilled.”

Dorie stilled her hand on another fabric swatch and then shook her head. “Oh dear, I was afraid that might happen to him one day. Well, I’m glad he’s treating it. It’s genetic, you know. His father had high cholesterol at his age. I’ve told Jeffrey this for years.”

Annie’s eyes widened as something began to occur to her. “No wonder…”

“Hm?”

“He just seemed particularly defensive about it. I thought it was about his health, which he’s been ranting about by the way, but now I’m wondering if it also has to do with his feelings about his dad.”

Dorie nodded absentmindedly. “I could see that.”

Annie turned to face her and placed one hand on her hip. She instantly made the decision to be more honest with Dorie in hopes of getting some answers.

“He gets really weird when he talks about his dad. Not that he says much, but it’s almost like his mind is somewhere else. And sometimes I think he almost can’t breathe. I’m worried about him.”

Dorie winced, her voice trembling slightly as she avoided Annie’s gaze. “Me too.”

Annie paused and then said, “He’s going to therapy.”

“He is?” Dorie turned her head swiftly, her mouth plopping open.

Annie nodded as she clasped her hands together and began twisting them. “He’s starting next week. And I think you should know… you’re his _mom_.”

Dorie stood there in stunned silence.

Annie continued,  “And plus, I told him I was going to tell you if he didn’t. I think he not-so-secretly wanted me to. He mentioned that one of the reasons he decided to go was because he thinks you believe he’s a mess. He cares what you think of him.”

Dorie let out a long sigh. “Thank heavens. But of course he shouldn’t do it for me. And I don’t think he’s a _mess._ He might just benefit from some other guidance. Something maybe I haven’t been able give him.”

Annie eyed her with sympathy, not sure how Dorie was taking the information. She placed a hand on Dorie’s arm.

“Professor Duncan says Jeff has a problem with anxiety.”

Dorie smiled softly and looked down.

Annie continued, “It makes sense. Sometimes I feel he’s having conversations with me but I don’t know that I’m participating in them. He’s having these entire discussions in his head. One time it was really bad. He kept saying he was afraid he was going to hurt Sophie. Can you believe that? I know he’d never hurt her, and I told him so. The way he was talking, I thought he was breaking up with me. But it turns out he was actually trying to get up the nerve to tell me he wanted us to be more serious. I had no idea.”

Dorie nodded thoughtfully. “I guess that means you should talk to him more before you make assumptions. And well, maybe it’s good he’s taking his role in Sophie’s life seriously. ” She turned her head to give Annie a discerning look. “I didn’t realize he was the one pushing for you two to be more committed. ”

Annie’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what to think. I never expected him to…” she trailed off and stared at the far wall.

“Is everything okay?”

“Can I ask you something? It might be a little weird…”

“Of course, dear. Go ahead.”

Annie continued to avoid Dorie’s gaze. “He mentioned getting a crib for his place. He first brought it up the other day and it wasn’t a good time for us to talk about it, but then he asked me about it again yesterday. He said he wants Sophie to be more comfortable when she’s over. He says he’d like to get her the same kind she has at home.”

Dorie bowed her head slightly, sensing Annie’s embarrassment. “And your concern is….”

Annie swiftly cast her eyes back to Dorie. She began to speak quickly, “Are we rushing things?   I feel if we get him a crib then it’s like a big investment. What if we break up? Then he’ll have this _crib_ ….”

Dorie interjected, “Annie dear, I don’t think you should worry about that. Would you _like_ her to have a crib at his place?”

Annie’s voice began to rise in an anguished tone. “I don’t know. That’s like a huge thing for him to do, isn’t it? More so than the carseat or the cagepen…”

“Cagepen?”

\---“Or the babygate. Or plugging the light sockets. All those are _safety_ issues. But a _crib_ , that says we stay over more often. And then what does that mean? We probably shouldn’t do that right now, right?”

“If you’re asking me if I think you should move in with him, I agree, it’s too soon.”

Annie threw her arms up in the air. “I know that! But it would be kind of in that direction, wouldn’t it? And I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that. I just want us to date.” She crossed her arms and looked down.

Dorie sighed. “Your situation is completely different though than if it were just you and him dating. You have a child, a very small child. You have to bring her with you. And from my understanding, it’s normal these days when dating to have some sleepovers.”

Annie looked up at her and uttered softly, “He sleeps over at my place a lot. But I know he’d rather have us at his place since it’s nicer.”

“I see.”

Annie turned away, her cheeks turning a bright pink. “I’m sorry I’m talking to you about this…. I know it’s weird.”

Dorie swatted the air and shook her head. “I can handle it.” She leaned over and placed her hand on Annie’s chin, gently turning her head back to face her.

“Annie dear, one could look at it as a pragmatic issue. Sophie needs to feel settled. Of course, it does imply a certain kind of at least short-term permanency.”

“Right…”

She dropped her hand from her chin. “And if you’re saying you’re planning to end this relationship next week, then of course don’t do it.”

Annie’s eyes began to water. She bit her lip. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t want to _end_ things.   I just don’t want us to be making any statements. When I get too far ahead with things, they don’t work out.”

Dorie sighed. “You know of course that you’re making a statement if you _don’t_ let him do it. If he really wants to do it, of course. You need to discuss this.”

Annie wiped something from her eye as she remarked, “I didn’t think of it that way, of me making a statement by turning him down. I don’t want to hurt him.”

Dorie placed an arm around Annie’s shoulders. She tilted her head inward. “I think the key here is that you two _talk_ about it.   And don’t over think it. And worse comes to worse and he gets a crib and you two don’t work out, he’ll be a big boy and find a new home for it.”

“So you think we should do it for Sophie?”

“I don’t think either decision would be bad. More about how you go about making it. If you feel it’s too soon to get a crib, phrase it sensitively and explain to him why that is. But if you’re just scared and otherwise things are good, maybe consider it.”

“That makes sense. Thanks.”

Dorie pulled her in more tightly for a moment before releasing her grip. She let out a long sigh and then laughed.

“You two will figure it out. Now let’s talk about something more fun. You never told me what you and Jeffrey are going as for Halloween.”

Annie smiled. “I’ll be little red riding hood.”

“I can see that. How sweet. And Jeffrey? My son never discusses his Halloween costumes with me, well at least not since he was twelve.”

Annie chuckled. “He’s going as David Beckham. He always has to be cool you know.”

“Ahhh….and fashionable.   Too bad he won’t be your huntsman.”

“That’s a little much for him. He has to look like he’s not trying that hard.”

“Isn’t that always the truth, dear?”

After purchasing their supplies, they made their way out to the playground next door. Annie grinned when she saw Jeff sitting on the ground with Sophie next to a giant metallic frog in the toddler lot.

“Hey, we’re all done!”

Jeff looked up. Although he appeared to be scowling, Annie thought she detected the hint of a smirk.

“What is it?”

Jeff pursed his lips. “She’s not listening to me. She keeps taking her shoes and socks off. And it’s kinda cold out here. She’s going to get sick again.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “She’s fine. Let’s go.”

“Not until she puts on her other sock. See?” He held up a small purple sock.

Annie shrugged. “Just put it on her.”

Jeff’s mouth fell open. “Then she takes it off. I don’t even know how she’s getting her shoes off. She must be wriggling out of them. We’ve repeated this process ad nauseam for the past ten minutes. She keeps laughing at me.”

Dorie shook her head. “Well that’s why she’s doing it then. She’s getting a reaction out of you. Give me the sock.”

Jeff sighed as he stood up and handed it over to his mom.

Dorie knelt down and blew into the sock. She then placed it on Sophie’s exposed foot. “Oohhh…you like that. It’s all warm and toasty! Especially nice on this chilly day.”

Sophie smiled brightly at Dorie.

Jeff frowned. Although he didn’t quite understand what his mother meant about such a ritual getting a child to _decrease_ an unwanted behavior (he had a hunch Sophie might enjoy that attention as well), he was startled by a sense of déjà vu.

He uttered in a low voice, tinged with awe. “I remember. You used to do that for me.”

Dorie nodded proudly. “I learned it from my grandmother. She always did it for me. And it always made me want her to put my socks on.” Dorie placed Sophie’s shoe over her sock. “There we go. You’re all ready now. Such a big girl.”

Dorie stood and then watched Jeff as he bent over. Sophie immediately lifted her arms in the air, a gleeful expression on her face. Jeff’s expression, in contrast, was more grumpy. But Sophie didn’t appear to mind at all.

Jeff hoisted Sophie up.

They all began walking toward the car, Annie and Dorie strolling ahead of Jeff and Sophie.

As they neared the parking lot, Jeff heard something drop.

He stopped suddenly and looked down to see one shoe and one purple sock on the ground.

Squinting his eyes at Sophie, he mumbled, “You and I need to have a side conversation, young lady.”

“What did you say, Jeff?”

“Nothing.” He groaned and crouched down.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Halloween


	17. Scary Happenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff react to startling events

The Greendale Halloween party finally arrived, and the study group members all dressed in their best costumes. Annie was pleased she didn’t have to worry about organizing the event this year and that Dorie was able to watch Sophie. She was looking forward to some much-needed grownup time.

Of course this was Greendale, which meant grownup time didn’t really exist. Although the party started off carefree enough, things quickly got out of hand. One issue was the Rich thing yet again, with Jeff being ridiculous after finding Annie chatting with the peppy doctor.

“And he’s dressed as a _banana_ , Annie. That’s asinine. No grown man dresses like that.”

“Well then you don’t have to worry about me running off with him, now do you?”

“I’m not! I just don’t like him.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Give me space. You’re being jerk.”

Although they had a little spat, Jeff and Annie eventually found their way back to each other, mostly out of necessity, as the party devolved into chaos after Pierce started biting people. And then the study group, plus Chang and Rich, barricaded themselves into the study room. Although initially the plan seemed sound, they were soon overtaken by a horde.

Luckily, Jeff was able to grab Annie and the two of them high-tailed it out of the study room with Abed and Troy. Eventually they lost the duo and ended up in the Dean’s office. Jeff locked the door.

“What the hell is going on?”

Annie started tearing up. “I don’t know! What if we can’t get out of here?” She grabbed the Dean’s phone and her eyes widened in terror as she realized there was no dial tone. “What are we going to do?”

“We’ll wait it out. They’ll have to move on eventually.”

“But the Dean locked us all in.”

“Help will come. In the meantime we just have to stay safe.”

Annie clenched her fists and began to pound her feet on the floor in a state of frustration. “What if we die? What if I never see Sophie again? I’ll leave her an orphan….”

Jeff shoved a small table in front of the door.

“Annie, Sophie is not going to be an orphan.”

“Her father won’t take care of her. He never wanted her. It wasn’t fair of me to put this on him….” She stilled her movements and threw herself into a chair, letting her head jut forward and hit the desk.

Jeff crossed his arms over his chest and regarded her with a tentative expression. “You’re being ridiculous. She’s his kid. He has a responsibility.”

Annie mumbled from underneath her braided hair, “I’m the one who chose to keep her. It really isn’t fair to him.” She then raised her head and plopped it onto her hands, elbows on the table. Her eyes widened, as she appeared to gaze at nothing in particular. “Oh god. I never made a will. If we die, the court will say she goes to him. And then he’ll pawn her off on his dad, who won’t want to take care of her either. She’ll be raised by a _nanny!!”_

Jeff grabbed a chair and pulled it up near her. He sat down, placing an arm around her shoulders. “Annie, stop it. _When we get out of here_ , you can make a will. I can help you. And Mark can look it over. You can have Adam sign stuff saying he’ll allow you to leave Sophie with someone else.”

She wiped a tear forming at the corner of one eye. She turned to him, dropping her arms and leaning into his shoulder. “Really? I can do that?”

He began to brush her hair, feeling a slight tremble in his voice he hoped she didn’t notice. “Yes. And from what you’ve told me about Adam, he’ll sign it. He’ll know it’s the best thing for her. And he’ll still have parental rights should he ever decide he wants to see more of her. But you can decide if someone else raises her.”

There was a soft reply. “Oh.”

“And that would be….?”

Annie responded without hesitation, “Nancy and Ryan.”

Jeff nodded as he continued to caress her hair. He affected his best lawyerly voice, “I’d designate Nancy if I were you. She and Ryan aren’t married. And if they split up and he’s named, it’ll be a legal mess.”

“But they’re getting married.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

He felt Annie nod into his chest.

She explained, “In spring. It’ll be kind of a low-key ceremony, but Nancy wanted to do that before they try to have a baby.”

“They want a baby?”

He felt Annie nod once more.

She murmured, “And that might be nice. Then Sophie can live with them and she’ll have a little baby brother or sister. She’d like that. Then she won’t ever be lonely.”

“Annie…”

She suddenly pushed against his chest and jumped up to a standing position. Her volume increased and her voice took on a shrill tone, “Oh God, I need to get out of here so I can make my will!”

Jeff noticed she had begun to hyperventilate.

He rose and grabbed her shoulders firmly, hunching over her by necessity given their ridiculous height disparity. He kept his tone even and low. “Annie. Calm down.”

“I can’t calm down!” She continued to breath high up in her chest, tears rolling down her face.

Jeff knew what he had to do. He smashed his mouth into hers.

Annie immediately started unbuttoning Jeff’s shirt. They kissed aggressively for almost thirty seconds before Jeff briefly pulled back to remove his jacket, placing it on the Dean’s chair. He gasped for some air before Annie pulled him back into the kiss.

Annie then pushed his shirt open completely. She moved her mouth away from his and began kissing his chest. There may have been some licking.

As he began to catch his breath, Jeff found himself excited and amused by Annie’s enthusiasm. He smirked and looked down at her. “We’re in the Dean’s office.”

She glanced up with wide eyes. “You started it. And we’ve never had sex at school before. I have to mark you.”

“Mark me?” He felt a fluttery sensation in his chest for some reason.

She affected a mock pout. Tilting her head to the side while fluttering her lashes she remarked, “You did it with Britta in the study room. And on the _table._ ”

Jeff’s stomach dropped “Wait… how do you know about the table?”

Annie crinkled her eyes and pursed her lips. “She told me. And it’s _disgusting_.” She then raised her eyebrows and stated confidently,  “And that’s why we’re going to do it on the Dean’s desk.”

“Wait…. what?!?”

She shoved him back.

*******************************

In the end, they all got out alive. Not that anyone had memories of what happened. Annie walked hand in hand with Jeff to his car.

Looking up at the sky, she groaned. “How are we going to explain this to your mom?”

Jeff sighed as he gripped her hand more tightly. “Ian got word to her hours ago. Apparently he was stuck outside with the Dean during the whole fiasco. Or at least he was for the first hour. He texted me from a bar. Anyway, my mom knows something went down.”

“I hope Sophie doesn’t wake up and realize I’m not there.” Annie glanced up at Jeff with a weak smile.

“I’m sure my mom snuggled her ridiculously and she’s been sleeping soundly.”

Annie nodded and looked back down, watching their feet walk side by side. She was aware Jeff often slowed his pace considerably so she could keep up.

“I can’t believe we were all _roofied_.” Her voice cracked slightly at the end of her sentence.

Jeff let out a long sigh of frustration. “I know. Thank god you and I stuck together. I’d hate to think if you ended up with someone nasty…”

Annie shuddered. “I’m guessing we were together the whole time. I don’t remember getting bitten.” She pulled out her opposite arm and glanced at her elbow. “Or how I got these scrapes, but we somehow were in the Dean’s office. And on the desk….”

\-- “And the door was smashed down. And Garrett was muttering more than usual.”

Annie leaned in toward Jeff as they continued to walk. “Do you think Garrett bit us?”

“It was either him or Vicky. Both looked extra creepy.”

Annie stopped suddenly as they arrived at the car. She removed her hand from his and laced her fingers together.

Jeff turned toward the car and fished his keys out of his pocket.

Annie lowered her voice to an almost whisper. “Jeff? I have to ask you something. And I don’t want you to freak out.”

“Hm?” He looked up as he began to unlock his car door.

“We had sex, right? I’m pretty sure we had sex…”

Jeff stilled as his cheeks reddened. He looked at her sheepishly. “Yup. I have the evidence. Well I had the evidence. I threw it out before we left.”

Annie let out a breath as she placed one hand on her upper chest. She closed her eyes as she exclaimed, “Oh thank god!”

He frowned as he turned to face her. He leaned back on the Lexus and crossed his arms. “Look I know it’s weird. But I’m sure we just have temporary amnesia. Maybe it’ll all come back to us by tomorrow.”

Annie had already turned away and was fist bumping in the air and as she did a little hop. “We used protection! Hallelujah!”

Jeff looked at her in confusion with an edge of irritation. “Well _of course_ we used protection. Goddamn it Annie, I wouldn’t _not_ use protection. I’m not an idiot. And I can’t believe you wouldn’t….” He suddenly realized what he was saying.

Annie stopped her celebration and turned to look up at him. Her voice was low and even as she remarked, “Well then I guess I’m an _idiot_. That’s how Sophie got here.   Adam and I were high, and we were stupid.”

“Oh.” Jeff realized he had never asked. _She had been_ _high_?

Annie took a deep breath, looking off to the side as she began to twist the hem of her red cape. She decided to explain, “Other times we were careful. But that _one time_ , well let’s just say we weren’t in the frame of mind to think through our actions.”

Jeff stared at her. _There’s so much I don’t know. Why don’t I ask?_

She continued, lowering her voice again to a whisper, “And part of me tonight was a little worried history was repeating itself. I hate feeling out of control.”

Jeff uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, placing his hands on her shoulders. His eyes widened as he exclaimed, “God Annie. Look, we’ll always be careful, okay? And while I know tonight was pretty crazy, I _always_ carry something with me.”

She looked up at him tentatively but with a mild smirk. “Habit from your old ways?”

He started to smile, feeling a sense that she was beginning to feel reassured. “In part. And also because I was kind of hoping sometime we would find a place at the school to do it.”

“Jeff!” She swatted him as she scowled a little too dramatically.

He grinned.

She then turned to look up at him, batting her eyes. “I guess I can’t get too upset.” She then opened up her purse.

Jeff’s eyes widened as he regarded the roll of condoms she held in the air. He tilted his head and stared at her. “Jesus, Annie!”

Annie kept an overly serious face as she nodded. She demurely placed the condoms back into her purse. “I’m also always prepared. I told you I live in fear of history repeating itself. And Annie Edison learns from her mistakes.”

“Mistakes?”

Annie placed a hand near her open mouth. “Please don’t tell Sophie I said that! I love her to pieces. But you know…”

\-- “Of course. Let’s just go home okay?”

“Okay.” 

*************************

Annie looked up from her textbook as she sat on Jeff’s couch. “So I talked to Mark. He helped me finalize that will we drew up.”

“Feel better now?” Jeff asked as he rooted through the fridge.

“Yeah. I’m glad I wrote down what we apparently discussed during the party. I must have been pretty freaked out.”

Jeff grabbed two bottles of water and stood up. He kicked the fridge door shut with his foot.

“It was strange there was a makeshift will witnessed by yours truly.”

Annie nodded to herself. “Anyway, Mark has the official version for Adam to sign. You know the one stating that he agrees to let Sophie be raised by Nancy. And I checked with Nancy, so she’s cool with it.”

Jeff emerged from the kitchen clutching the bottles of water and his textbook under his arm.

“That would be a crucial point.”

Annie sighed as she began to leaf absentmindedly through her textbook. “I have to talk to him soon anyway. We’re coming up on the time when he gets to take Sophie for overnights.”

Jeff just about dropped his book on the floor.

“Overnights?” He felt his voice take on an edge.

Annie glanced up at him. “He gets to take Sophie on a weekend. Well, the plan is for a one-night period at this age. In a couple years we’ll move to the whole weekend.”

Jeff remained standing between the kitchen and the living room. For some reason he couldn’t will his feet to continue moving.

He frowned. “Annie, you were just saying you wouldn’t let him raise Sophie if something were to happen to you. Yet you’re seriously going to let him have her _overnight_?”

Annie huffed as she looked down at her book, gripping a page. “You know perfectly well it’s standard with custody arrangements. And it’s odd enough I have full custody as it is. But given her age, it made sense when we first worked it out.”

“And because he didn’t want custody.” Jeff continued to stand in the same spot, feeling a hot sensation wash over his face and chest.

Annie began randomly folding corners in her book. “She was a _baby_. But now that she’s just about sixteen months, we can start moving toward the _shared custody_.”

Jeff suddenly found his legs working again. He swiftly walked over and sat in front of her. He placed the water bottles on the table and let his book fall to the side. He turned to face her.

“Annie, I say this with all affection, but you’re delusional.”

She appeared startled as she looked up from her book. “What?!?”

Jeff pursed his lips as he stated evenly, “You cannot let him have her for overnights. She doesn’t even know him. That would be traumatic for her.”

Annie scowled as she grabbed her knees and pulled them up toward her chest. “I don’t mean _next week_. I’ll talk to him and we’ll have him come by more frequently, and then maybe after the holidays she can have her first overnight. And I’ll come over to get her if she gets upset.”

Jeff continued to stare at her incredulously. “Frankly I’m surprised you’d want him to. You’ve never even been away from her for one night.”

Annie’s nostrils flared. She gripped her knees more tightly. “I’m not saying I _want_ to leave her with him, but he’s her father. And this will be good for their relationship. I don’t have a relationship with my own father, and my daughter is not going to go through what I did. Not if I can help it.”

Jeff gritted his teeth. “He’s not going to want to take her for overnights anyway.”

A vein started to pop in Annie’s forehead. “How dare you? Of course he will!”

Jeff began to push his hand through his hair. “You’re pretty confident he’s going to sign away custody to Nancy! What in hell makes you think he’d want the weekend visits? It’s pretty obvious he has no interest in being her father.”

Annie gasped. “I can’t believe you! Just because your father abandoned you doesn’t mean Sophie’s will! See this is why I don’t usually talk to you about things like this. You overreact!   And it’s none of your business!”

Jeff took a deep breath. “Oh like hell it isn’t, Annie! And I really don’t like the idea of us letting her stay with that loser over night!”

Annie stared at him, her mouth falling open. “ _Us?_ This has nothing to do with you!   Maybe you should stop trying to control me.”

Jeff rapidly shook his head. “That’s not what ….. you know that….”

“You’re an ass, Jeff. When Sophie wakes up we’re going home.”

Jeff found himself lunging forward. He reached for one of her hands but she pulled it away.

“Annie….”

Annie felt herself doubling down in her frustration. She began to speak quickly in a clipped tone, “And I’m calling Mark, and I’ll talk to Adam and we’ll have him and Sophie get to know each other more. I’m sure he’ll want to now that she’s walking and talking more. And then all he needs is to take a drug test.”

Before he could think through his words, Jeff found himself remarking, “Well my point will be proven then. I very much doubt the asshole will pass a drug test.”

“He went to rehab!”

“Twice!”

“Plenty of people go twice!”

“And where does his money go, Annie? And how does he spend his time? Alan goes to NA and he _still_ snorts coke.”

Annie grabbed the teal pillow and smacked Jeff’s chest with it. “How dare you bring up _Alan_? And you’re one to talk, given that you’re still playing nice with that jerk.”

Jeff was startled. “You said it didn’t bother you.”

“Read between the lines, Jeff!”

“Oh.” His stomach fell.

“I just gave you a lot of fodder for your next therapy session.” 

***********************

Jeff was relieved the next day when Annie called and arranged a time for them to go to the park.   She apologized for overreacting, and he said he was sorry for belittling her wishes. After all, he cared what she thought of him.

He didn’t know what to think regarding Annie’s unrealistic ideas about Adam’s involvement, but he decided it would be stupid to try to reason with her. And he figured he’d be right about the drug test. And even if he wasn’t, there was no way in hell Annie’s vision was going to work.

After they had talked in Annie’s apartment, Annie got a call from Nancy. She motioned for Jeff to take Sophie downstairs so that she could take the call, mouthing she would just be a few minutes.

Jeff hoisted Sophie on one side, strapping her bag to his other shoulder. They made their way downstairs, waving to Thanos on their way out.

As Jeff walked toward the Lexus, he spied a red Mercedes.

“Hey, who are you?”

He turned to see a surprisingly normal-looking man, about six feet in height, with medium brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a cargo jacket, jeans, and black Gucci SL 73 sneakers.

_The guy certainly has expensive taste. Annie has a type._

“Um, hello. Who are _you_?” Jeff felt his blood pressure quicken, already knowing the answer to his question.

There was a terse response, “You have my kid.”

Jeff glanced at Sophie, noticing she was looking at the guy blankly and had begun sucking her thumb. She leaned her head into his shoulder.

Jeff frowned as he placed a kiss on Sophie’s head. He remarked sardonically, “Yeah, she seems to know you really well.”

The guy crossed his arms and set dagger eyes on Jeff. “I’ll ask again. Who are you? And why do you have Sophie?”

Jeff took a deep breath as he prepped himself for being a decent person. He extended a hand. “Jeff Winger. I’m a friend of Annie’s.”

“Adam Wellson.” They shook hands. Firmly.

Jeff nodded as he removed his hand. He kept a respectful tone. “I figured. Good to finally meet you.”

Jeff took in the sight of Sophie’s father. He found himself slightly startled at noticing a small…. _small_ resemblance. Up until that moment he hadn’t given much thought to the second half of Sophie’s DNA, as the baby hobbit looked quite a bit like Annie, especially in the eyes. But presently Jeff could definitely see similarities between Sophie and Adam in the lower half of the face.   It was jarring.

He shook himself back to listening.

Adam squinted, tilting his head as he regarded Jeff. “Annie’s never mentioned you. You’re a _friend_?”

“Um hm.”

Adam nodded with an air of comprehension. “Hey you can hand her over to me.” He motioned with his hand for Sophie.

Jeff bristled, noticing his heart rate increasing. Ever fiber in his being didn’t want to allow Sophie near the guy. “Um. We’re actually on our way out. Annie’s coming down in a minute. I don’t think she’s expecting you.”

Adam kicked at the ground and then looked at Jeff square in the eye. “I got a call from her saying she needed to talk to me about something important. And I was in the area so I thought I’d stop by. And that’s my kid, so if you don’t mind…”

Jeff sighed as he handed Sophie to him, feeling something wrench in his chest.

Sophie whimpered for a moment before she settled. Adam turned to her and lifted her up a little higher on his arm. “Hey there, Sophie. It’s been a little while. What’s your mom been up to?” He shot Jeff a glare out of the corner of his eye.

Sophie regarded him, still sucking her thumb. She then turned to look at Jeff, taking her thumb out. Jeff knew what she was going to do before she did it.

 _“Dee Deeff.”_ She uttered in a soft voice as she started to lean away from Adam toward Jeff.

Adam startled as he pulled Sophie back to him.

 _“Dee Deeff!”_ Sophie yelled, tears beginning to fall down her face.

Adam’s eyes widened as she attempted to secure Sophie in his arms. He glanced over at Jeff with an irritated expression. “What is she calling you?”

Jeff stepped closer, explaining swiftly, “She’s saying _Jeff_.   Here, just hand her back to me.”

“Nope.”

“Asshole.”

“Ahem. Boys!”

They turned to see Annie standing there with her hands on her hips.   She motioned for Sophie. “Please give her to me,” she commanded.

Adam immediately handed Sophie to her.

Annie kissed Sophie and let her nuzzle into her shoulder. She looked over at Adam and asked softly, “What are you doing here?”

Adam gulped and answered weakly, as if he was being chastised, “You said you wanted to talk to me about something important. And I was nearby…”

“Since when do you just come by?” Annie bit her lip, regarding him with noticeable tentativeness.

Jeff looked back and forth between them, conscious of feeling like a voyeur. That coupled with a sense of rising rage in wanting to smack the crap out of the guy.   And at the same time feeling as if someone was stomping on his own chest. _What the hell?_

Adam replied to Annie, “You said it was about your will. Something I need to sign and something about custody? My lawyer said your lawyer talked to him already…”

Annie nodded as she interjected, “Yes. But I don’t have everything here. We have to meet with our lawyers. I can talk to you about it for a minute though if you want. Just to explain and make sure we’re on the same page.”

Adam nodded sheepishly. “Okay.”

Annie turned to Jeff, smiling slightly. “Could you please give us a few minutes?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”

He watched them turn and walk back into Dildopolis.

After spending about twenty minutes playing with his phone, Jeff spied Annie and Adam emerge. They spoke to each other for a moment before Adam gave Sophie a little wave and then started to talk back to his car.   He shot Jeff a glare.

Jeff nodded to him, placing his hands in his pockets. He watched as Adam got into his car and then took off.

Annie approached him, placing a kiss to Sophie’s cheek as they neared.

Jeff rolled his eyes. “So that was _pleasant_.”

She squinted and whispered, “What did you say to him? He hates you.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t say anything. He came up to me because he recognized Sophie. And I introduced myself…”

\-- “As my boyfriend.”

He shook his head. “Nope, actually I didn’t. I said I was your _friend_.”

Annie sighed. “Well he knows. And I confirmed it.”

“You did? And why would he care?” Jeff eyed her curiously.

Annie mumbled, “I think it’s the principle of the thing. That I’ve moved on.”

Jeff shrugged as he opened the back car door. “Well he can’t have it both ways.”

“He says he’ll sign.”

Jeff carefully took Sophie and began placing her in the carseat. He kept his eyes on the buckles as he remarked, “Good. And notice how readily he agrees to sign over the custody of his kid if something were to happen to you.”

“You need to stop. Right now.”

Jeff felt his stomach tighten as he heard the edge in her voice.

“Sorry.” He began buckling Sophie in.

Annie continued, “And for your information, we decided we would wait on the overnights until she’s older, maybe closer to three or four. It’s too much to put on her at this age.”

Jeff was conscious of an immense sense of relief washing over him. He finished the buckles and re-emerged from the car. He nodded as he looked down at Annie. “That makes a lot of sense.”

Annie’s voice trembled slightly, “I know.”

He sighed as he leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry for being a jerk. I know the situation isn’t easy. I think you’re doing the right thing.”

She leaned in to him for a hug. “Thank you.”

On the drive to the park, Jeff churned over some things in his mind. When they arrived, he let Annie walk ahead with Sophie. He took out his phone and composed a text. Within a few minutes he received a response.

[Jeff]: We need to meet

[Alan]: Sure thing Tango!!!

[Jeff]: Tomorrow?

[Alan]: Are u sure? It’s a school night. LOL LOL LMAO !!! :o

[Jeff]: Yeah its important. L street?

[Alan]: Ok let’s paint the town Tango!!!!!!!

Jeff sighed as he pocketed his phone. After meeting the infamous Adam coupled with Annie’s outburst the previous evening, he knew what he had to do.

It wasn’t okay for his old cynicism to emerge when it came to Alan. He could find a way to get back into his firm without him. After all, he was on pretty good terms with Ted and Mark.

He knew he had to be better.

 

 

 

 

 


	18. Papers, Ink, and Pens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie obsesses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: referenced drug use

Annie and Jeff started off November putting the whole crazy Halloween episode behind them as well as their subsequent fight regarding the Adam situation. And as unnerved as he had been by finally meeting the jerk, Jeff felt he had checked something off a mental to-do list. The guy was clearly an asshole and Jeff decided there was no way he was going to act in any way that would remind Annie of him. Or associate with anyone who did.

So Jeff felt he did the right thing in dumping Alan. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, per se, but it was decidedly anticlimactic. Sure, there were various protestations and threats, but Jeff consoled himself with the fact that he was still in good with Ted.

But more to the point, Jeff told Annie what he did. Sure, it was in a low-key way, just in passing, and she hadn’t given much of a reaction, but he suspected it meant something to her. He could have sworn he saw her blush and suppress a smile.

The only other real glitch to the fall semester thus far had been Pierce’s injury. Jeff might have felt slightly bad about it if it hadn’t been for the fact that he felt Pierce brought it upon himself after trying to steal his and Troy’s sanctuary. Turns out a racist scumbag ran said sanctuary, but they didn’t know that at the time.

Annie was the only member of the group who seemed to really feel bad for Pierce. She even started to make him soup, and she was constantly offering to wheel him around. That is until he obtained his fancy new wheelchair, which Annie seemed to take as a personal affront. It was almost as if she didn’t know what to do with herself, which was ridiculous considering she often had plenty to do.

Jeff attempted to ignore what he perceived as Annie’s growing feelings of restlessness, which had accelerated after she and Adam met with their lawyers. He hadn’t pried into how the meeting went, and she didn’t divulge much other than it went “smoothly.” But Jeff was beginning to notice Annie winding tighter and tighter. 

********************

“Come on munchkin, let’s step this up.”

Sophie smiled, tilting her head to the side as she kicked off a striped pink sock.

Jeff frowned. “How do you keep doing that? I pulled it all the way up.”

He reached forward from his seated position on his bedroom floor. Sophie giggled as she threw herself on her side and rolled away from him. She then scrambled awkwardly to her feet and toddled away.

“Aggh….” He threw himself forward to scoop her up, leaning over the pile of pink and purple clothes littered in front of him from Sophie’s overnight bag.

“What’s taking so long?” Annie popped in her head from the doorway.

Jeff frowned as he looked up from a squirming Sophie. “She’s not wanting to put on her clothes. See? She’s just wearing her dress but she won’t keep her socks on and so far she’s refusing to put on her leggings.”

Jeff plopped Sophie back down on the ground.   He then blew some hot air into a sock and coaxed it onto Sophie’s foot.

Annie sighed. “Just put them on her. I have to finish printing out my paper, and the last page was out of alignment.”

“Well, go do that then since we can’t leave until that’s finished.”

“But if you need my help….”

“I got this. Go print out your paper.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Jeff was finally able to wrangle Sophie into some clothes. She then toddled off to her cagepen, and Jeff watched her stretch as she attempted to reach over the top.

_“Baaa”_

“Of course we’ll bring your bear with us.”

Sophie smiled as she watched Jeff reach over to grab her bear. He handed it to her and then turned to pick up the various clothing items strewn about.

Jeff noted that Sophie had been particularly ornery and uncooperative that morning, but at least she seemed to be in good spirits now, which would be key since Annie had been stressed out all night working on her paper in his study. They had arranged for Annie and Sophie to stay overnight since Sophie had been getting over a cold and had been cranky, and Annie needed to use his printer. Jeff had volunteered to keep an eye on the baby hobbit so Annie could get her work done.

Jeff was therefore pretty pleased with himself at managing through the night, feeding Sophie breakfast, and finally getting her dressed. The only thing Annie had needed to do so far that morning was to change Sophie when the kid woke up. He even brushed her teeth. Piece of cake. He threw Sophie’s clothes on the bed and reached for her bag.

Suddenly he heard the baby hobbit begin to whine.

He looked up at the ceiling and then closed his eyes. “Oh come on, what’s wrong?”

He turned and picked her up. The whining continued.

Annie shouted from the study, “Is she okay?”

He called out, “I’ll handle it!”

Jeff then paled as he attempted not to inhale a not-so-pleasant aroma.

“Goddammnit,” he muttered under his breath.

He carried Sophie over toward the study and leaned against the doorway. “Annie, she needs to be changed.”

His eyes widened as he saw Annie raise her head from her hunched position over the printer. She glared at him with bloodshot eyes. He prepped himself mentally for the screech.

“Agghh! I can’t take this right now! Fine! Ugh!” Annie pursed her lips as she walked over to him and started to take a crying Sophie from him with trembling hands.

“Annie…stop.” He held onto Sophie and watched as Annie’s hands dropped away. “You look like you’re about to pass out. “ He closed his eyes, muttering something to himself. “Goddammit…I’ll do it.”

Annie’s eyes popped open. “Whaaat?!?”

“I’ll change her. How hard could it be?”

He walked out of the room.

Annie jogged after him, following him into the bedroom as he plopped Sophie onto the open changing pad on the dresser.

Placing his hands on his hips, he surveyed the situation with a pensive expression. “Let’s see….”

Annie’s voice shook slightly, “Have you ever changed a baby before?”

Jeff sighed and affected a sardonic tone, “Of course not. I haven’t even changed _Pierce_. But I figure this has to be a lot more pleasant than that. And let’s face it, I’ll probably have to handle him soon. And I walk _Hank_. Let me tell you what I’ve seen with that dog…”

Annie rolled her eyes. “I’ll just do it.”

He turned to her and frowned. “Annie, _no_. It’s about damn time I do it anyway. It’s probably not fair you always have to do it.”

She stepped back slightly, placing one hand on her upper chest. “Really?”

“Yes.”

She nodded and then stepped closer, placing her hand on his arm. “Um…okay. Can I just talk you through it? This one might be messy. It’s not so bad if it’s just….”

“Yeah, I know. Might as well just dive right in, right? Well, not dive in, in this case. That would be…ugh. Nevermind.”

Annie smiled nervously. “Are you really going to?”

He shrugged. “Of course. Just tell me what to do.”

“Okay.”

Although Jeff was slightly traumatized by the experience of changing Sophie Edison’s diaper, he survived. While Annie had been in a foul mood beforehand, he was struck by how giddy she seemed by the idea of him volunteering to do such a task. And although providing him with guidance didn’t really save her anytime with her paper, they both agreed it was time well spent, given that now Jeff knew what he was doing.

Annie grinned and clapped her hands. “Shirley’s going to be so impressed. I’m going to tell her all about this.”

Jeff scowled as he picked up a now-contented Sophie. “Yeah, thanks. I live for Shirley Bennett’s approval.”

“You’re a grouch.”

“ _I’m_ the grouch? Look who’s talking. And you can’t blame me being a little irritable given what I just witnessed. What the hell was that?”

“That’s not typical. She’s been sick, so that was a real messy one. But if you can handle that, the rest will be easy.”

“Oh you’re loving this.”

She smiled at him and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Of course I am. You’re my sweetheart. Thank you.”

He may have blushed. Just a little bit. 

***********************

“It’s completely out of character for you to volunteer to change a diaper, Jeff. I’m wondering if our scriptwriter is engaging in fan service. This does not bode well for our show.”

Jeff cringed. “Abed, for the thousandth time, we do not have a scriptwriter. We are not on a show. And what do you mean it’s out of character for me to change a diaper? Come on, it’s Sophie. And Annie needed the help.”

Abed tilted his head to the side as he sat across from Jeff in the cafeteria. “That’s interesting. You do tend to go out of your way for Annie, so I might find it plausible that you would do something like that. But given the grossness of the task from Shirley’s recounting of Annie’s description, _over lunch_ , I’m going to have to assume there was more to it.”

Jeff squinted his eyes at Abed as Shirley sat there grinning by his side. For a second he thought he had detected a note of sarcasm in Abed’s voice. But he doubted if Abed was capable of that.

Shirley placed her hands together in a mock clap. “Jeffrey, you are really stepping up. An-nie was delighted you were so helpful. She told me she had such a rough night, and that you kept an eye on poor little sick Sophie so that she could attend to her paper….”

\----“Ah! That’s it!” Abed raised a finger in the air.

Jeff stared at him. “What?”

“You were worried about Annie. You didn’t think she could handle the stress of looking after a sick child. And you were still concerned this morning since you volunteered to change the diaper.”

“Abed, just knock it off.”

Abed looked at Jeff curiously, noticing Jeff’s slightly widened eyes and fidgeting with his straw wrapper.

Abed nodded. “I’m right. Something happened. What was it?”

“You need to mind your own business.” Jeff grabbed his tray and left the cafeteria, leaving Abed and Shirley at the table by themselves.

Abed turned to Shirley and shrugged. He then glanced at her untouched sandwich. “You haven’t eaten your lunch.”

Shirley’s turned away and placed a hand near her mouth. “I’m not feeling so well. My tummy’s unsettled.”

Abed shrugged again as he resumed eating his buttered noodles. 

********************

Jeff sat outside on a bench in the crisp November air. Sometimes he wanted to strangle Abed with his questions and intrusiveness. _How does that weirdo do it?_

He sighed wearily as he sat back to think about the previous evening.

Annie had come over with Sophie with plans for dinner followed by intense writing time. She needed to use his printer since the school’s ink supplies were out due to budgetary issues.

“And it’s so hypocritical of Professor Sladen to require that we have our papers printed when the school can’t even provide the proper supplies! He’s so old school he doesn’t even use _email_! And some of us can’t afford our own printers!”

“Annie, I told you it’s fine. You can use mine.”

She yammered on, “I could go print it out at Kinko’s but I’m not finished with the paper yet and the place nearby isn’t 24 hours…”

“You’re not going to Kinko’s in the middle of the night anyway. Just finish the paper here and print it out whenever you’re done.”

She had looked at him sheepishly. “So it’s okay if I stay up really late to work on it? I might not come to bed for awhile….”

“Yes, of course. I’ll deny I ever said this to anyone else, but we don’t always have to have sex. In fact, you know that perfectly well. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we don’t even during _naptime_. Sometimes we have annoying things like Greendale schoolwork, which gets in the way. It’s fine.”

“Sorry. Thanks.”

It turned out Sophie still wasn’t over her cold. She had been allowed to go to daycare because she hadn’t been running a fever, but she had been sniffly and whiney for the past few days. After they put her down for the night, she kept waking up from her cagepen in Jeff’s bedroom, crying softly and then not-so-softy. Jeff had ended up taking her from a frustrated Annie as she ranted about not being able to get back to her paper.

“Just go and work on it. I’ll settle her back down.”

“She’s still sick. Oh god, why now?!?” Annie was on the verge of tears.

“Annie, I know she’s sick. Just give me one of your infamous lists of things I can do to calm her down, and I’ll try them all. Okay?”

“Oh, um, thanks.”

In his frustrated state as he balanced a crying Sophie in his arms, Jeff inadvertently started making some less-than-helpful comments, “And maybe she would be more comfortable if you let me get the crib. She’s sick and she’s in her cagepen…”

Annie closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Please do not bring this up right now. I feel bad enough that she’s sick and that she could be more comfortable. You don’t need to remind me of how horrible of a mother I am.”

Jeff’s eyes widened as he saw a tear fall from Annie’s cheek.

“Look, I’m sorry. I wasn’t saying you were doing anything wrong. And I can have her cuddle up to me on my bed, okay? I’ll just read something.”

Annie looked down as another tear rolled off her face. “Thank you. I’m just so stressed out. I have two midterms this week, and I had one last week. And two papers, including this one for Professor Sladen. And he’s being so _unreasonable_. I can’t possibly do my best work.”

Jeff wiped Sophie’s nose with a tissue, noticing with some relief she was crying more softly as he held her. “Well then don’t try to do your best. Just finish it. It’s Greendale. I’m sure your paper, even if it’s crap, will be the best thing Professor Sladen’s ever seen.”

Annie’s eyes shot up to his. “I was on track for being high school _valedictorian_. I used to write so well. And I didn’t let anything stop me. I was a _machine_ , Jeff.”

Jeff gulped. “Oooookay.”

She pursed her lips. “And I know I’m slumming it at Greendale. I don’t need you to remind me.”

“Annie, I’m sorry. I was just trying to get you to take some perspective here before you get all stressed out. It’s just a paper.”

“Just a paper? Do you even know me? Oh God, I need to go finish it….” She started to look frantically about the bedroom.

“Annie…”

She turned to him and smiled weakly. “I’m sorry for being such a freak, Jeff. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and ran out of the room.

Jeff sighed and turned his attentions to making sure Sophie was more comfortable.

Later as he read his zoology textbook in his bed with a low light on, Sophie snuggled at his side with her bear. He noticed with some dismay she was drooling on the pillow, but at least she was out. Suddenly he heard some rummaging in the kitchen. He glanced at Sophie and noticed she was beginning to stir as the sounds increased. In a minute the stirring became full-fledged whining. He gently picked her up, realizing she wanted more water. Her sippy cup was empty.

He sighed and got up with her and the cup and made his way to the kitchen. He spied Annie standing by the counter and measuring out coffee grounds into a filter.

“Is she okay?” She glanced over at them with worried eyes.

“Yeah, she just needs more water. You’re making more coffee?”

She turned her attention back to the coffee. “Yeah….I’m so sleepy but I need to stay awake. One cup wasn’t enough. I’m so behind on this stupid paper.”

“It’s midnight. And despite you working in a coffee shop, you don’t drink coffee. If you have that much you’ll be wired the rest of the night.”

Annie nodded decisively. “That’s the idea. I need to finish the paper. And I can’t do that if I’m sleeping.” She closed the coffee bag and then pushed the filter into the coffee maker.

“But you’re not used to coffee. At least only make one more cup…”

Annie pursed her lips as she squinted at the coffee pot. “That won’t be enough. I used to drink coffee, I now how it works.”

Jeff filled up Sophie’s cup and then let Sophie gulp down some water. He turned to Annie as he saw her fill up the reservoir with a full pot’s worth of coffee.

“You won’t sleep. At all. And you’ll be all jittery.”

She grimaced. “I know. But you don’t understand. I do my best work when I’m on edge. Adderall helped me do that, get right to that edge. And caffeine’s the only legal way I’m going to get close to that right now.”

Jeff felt his heart rate quicken. “Annie, what the hell?”

She hit the on button on the coffeemaker. She remarked nonchalantly, “What?”

“What did you just mean? That you’d take Adderall if I had some right now?”

She looked up at him, her eyes tearing slightly. “Of course not.”

Jeff was conscious of growing unease. It felt as if something was clawing its way out of his chest. He balanced Sophie in his arms, letting her continue to hold onto her sippy cup.

He took a deep breath, deciding to test his fear, “Really? You wouldn’t? What if I told you I had a prescription? It’s in my medicine cabinet behind the razors.”

She stilled and looked down. “You have adhd?”

He watched her closely as he replied, “Forgot to tell you about it. Didn’t want to make it into an issue.”

Annie’s eyes widened as she looked over to him. Her voice lowered as she remarked in a trembly tone, “But I couldn’t. I mean, that wouldn’t be…”

He stared at her, his heart rate accelerating as he watched the expression on her face morph from shock to something else he couldn’t quite identify and then finally to fear.

She gulped, looking at him intently. “Could you please go and hide it? And never tell me where it is.”

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m an ass. I don’t have adhd, and I don’t have any Adderall.”

She looked at him with another cascade of expressions. Jeff thought he detected relief, irritation, and then puzzlement.

“Then why did you say you did?”

He lowered his voice to an almost whisper, “I dunno. Maybe because you’re sounding really weird. Please just come to bed.”

She vehemently shook her head. “No, I have to finish this.”

Annie ended up working through the night, drinking a whole pot of coffee. Jeff was pretty sure she hadn’t slept at all and was completely uncoordinated by the time she attempted to print out her paper.

After he had changed Sophie’s diaper he told Annie he’d fix the printer. He walked over to it and saw she uncharacteristically had been attempting to load the paper through the wrong side. He let out a wearied sigh as he moved the paper to the correct position and hit print. 

********************

Jeff stopped Annie and motioned for her to follow him over to a dead-end hallway near Ian’s office.  

He turned to her as she looked up at him with questioning eyes.

“We need to talk.”

She bit her lip and pulled at the straps of her backpack. “I’m sorry about earlier today. And last night.”

Jeff sighed. “I know. That’s not the point. I just…”

“It won’t happen again. I’ll sleep next time, I promise.”

“Annie…”

She lightly touched his arm. “I’ll get a better start on my paper. This time I was caught off guard, and with Sophie getting sick I didn’t have as much time to work on it in advance.”

“But unexpected things will still keep popping up. And I guess….I need to know. I can’t have you relapse.” His voice cracked at the end of the sentence.

Annie nodded as her eyes started to water. “I’m not going to. That’s why I asked you to hide it if you had something.”

He looked at her intently and lowered his voice, “You drank an entire pot of coffee in the middle of the night so that you could mimic the effects of Adderall.”

She looked down and mumbled, “I needed to finish my paper.”

He shook his head. “See, no you didn’t. There is always another way.”

“I’m fine. I promise.”

“Do you even know what I went through that night you disappeared?”

Annie’s eyes widened as she looked up. “I told you before I’d never try to do anything like what I did when Adam and I broke up…”

“That’s actually not what I meant. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t do that. I meant the drugs. Not to hurt yourself. To cope, Annie.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sorry you thought that. I promise I’m not going to go off to get some drugs.”

“The coffee…”

Annie looked off to the side and cringed. “Was stupid, I know.   And I’m pretty exhausted right now. I fell asleep in the cafeteria during my lunch break. Troy carried me to the lounge so that I could sleep on a couch. He sat by me while I missed my origami class. Not that I would have been capable of folding all those little bits of paper today. And that’s my _stress relief,_ Jeff.”

“Annie…”

She moved her eyes back to him. “It was embarrassing. So I get it. I’ll be more mindful in the future. And I’m really sorry I upset you last night and the night of your party. The last thing I want is to hurt you….”

He reached out and pulled her in for a hug. “It’s okay. Just please let me know what you need.”

She mumbled into his chest. “Ever since you started going to therapy you haven’t been drinking your Scotch.”

Jeff looked down at her in surprise. “You check?” 

She craned her neck to make eye contact. “I do.   Whatever you need too…”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m okay. I like it, but I don’t _need_ it. And you don’t need copious amounts of coffee.”

Her eyes began to flood with tears. “It’s this whole thing with Adam. I let him ruin my life. And now Sophie’s too. I was so _angry_. But now I’m too tired to fight it anymore. I’m just sad.”

He pulled her in closer. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll go to an NA meeting tonight.”

He nodded. “Good. I’ll watch the baby hobbit.” 

 

********************

Although Annie was true to her word with the coffee, Jeff noticed she still seemed on edge. Annie’s building frustrations culminated in what Abed later referred to as The Bottle Episode. Annie explained she had lost many pens over the past few weeks, all in study group. Apparently she was even more upset at present because this particular pen had been one Jeff gave to her and was full of her favorite ink, Imperial Purple.

Jeff had no idea Annie could scream as loud as she had when they all attempted to leave the room. He had a flash of what it might be like someday when a teenage Sophie stayed out past her curfew.   He found himself a little scared.

“And _Jeff_ gave me that pen. It was a _special pen_!”

Britta rolled her eyes. “Annie, just because a man gives you something doesn’t make it special. Do you know how many weird things guys have given me throughout the years?”

Pierce chuckled inappropriately.

Annie’s nostrils flared. “Britta! This was a gift from _Jeff_! Because he knows how much penmanship means to me. And how much I thrive on the appropriate writing implements. And the ink flows like _silk_. It’s the nicest thing I’ve ever owned!”

Britta nodded, smiling tightly. “Sorry.”

Luckily the study group somehow was able to devote several hours to the pursuit of Annie’s missing pen. Even Sophie’s care was miraculously taken care of in advance, although Abed didn’t see it that way, muttering something about Sophie’s disappearance being indicative of lazy writing. Earlier that day, Dorie had picked up Sophie since Annie and Jeff were planning on going out for a date night in Denver that evening. It had been Dorie’s suggestion, per her continued emphasis that they needed to spend time alone. Plus Jeff suspected his mother enjoyed spoiling Sophie.

The devolution into the bag search was a tad surprising but the group quickly adapted to the new norm. Annie gasped in surprise when a slew of condoms came crashing out of Britta’s bag.  

As Jeff smirked and turned to make sarcastic quips to Troy and Pierce, Annie mouthed silently to Britta, _“You weren’t supposed to sleep with him!”_

Britta rolled her eyes, as Shirley muttered judgmentally under her breath.

“ _I didn’t….it was just in case!”_ Britta mouthed back.

The boys had turned their attention back to the girls. Jeff frowned, feeling he missed something. He shrugged and then began teasing Britta again before Annie told him to knock it off.

They needed to move on and find that pen.

A few minutes later, Jeff may have observed a flash of concern on Annie’s face at Troy’s revelation that Pierce had been “popping painkillers like tic tacs.”

And then lockdown was declared, with Jeff calling his mom and quickly explaining that he and Annie might not be able to pick up Sophie until late, or potentially not at all and that she would have to bring Sophie by for visits for the rest of their days as they searched for the pen.

Britta rolled her eyes at the dramatic nature of his call.

Jeff was able to discreetly search Annie’s bag, holding back his smug smile as he spied her stash of condoms in the inside zippered compartment. He made the tactful and life-preserving decision not to produce them for the group.

The revelation of Shirley’s pregnancy test seemed to throw off everyone for a few minutes. It was obvious Shirley was acutely embarrassed at the fact that now everyone knew she had been seeing Andre again. Jeff noticed Annie did her best to comfort Shirley and redirect the group’s efforts away from her.  

After Abed assured Shirley that she had been incorrect about her potential conception date, Annie cast Shirley a questioning look. Britta and Jeff started arguing again about search and seizure, the Winger police state, and the abhorrent devaluing of the human condition as Abed and Troy nodded. Everyone missed the glances between Annie and Shirley.

A minute later after he started to tear up the room, Jeff became enraged when Annie tried to get him to stop, stating, “It’s just a pen.” He almost couldn’t believe the words “You precocious little bitch” came out of his mouth. For a moment he could have sworn Annie was a little turned on by his outburst. She smirked slightly and then started to yell and pull off her clothes, so he followed suit, as did Britta and Pierce. It was probably best that Abed stopped everyone and instructed them in a more methodologically sound approach to a strip search.

In the end, they decided to all go with Troy’s explanation of a ghost taking the pen. Jeff and Annie shared a look, realizing how relieved they all were by the end of the fiasco and finding the humor and sweetness in it. It was no puppy parade, but it was truly a valuable group bonding moment. 

*************************

Jeff walked alongside Annie toward the Lexus.

“So I figure we still have time to get to that sushi place in Denver. Luckily I was able to move our reservation back a couple hours.”

Annie stared off ahead and replied absentmindedly, “Um hm.”

They stopped in front of the car. Jeff watched her face.

“Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Look, I’m sorry the ghost took your pen. I can replace it.”

She sighed, and snapped out of her thoughts, “It’s okay. I have the other pens you gave me. I am upset I lost the ink, but…”

“I can get you another vial of that particular ink. It’s no problem. And we’ll make sure you wear it around your neck on a chain or something.”

She smiled. “That’s actually not such a bad idea. I’ll think about it.”

“Good.”

He noticed she seemed to stare off again and was frowning in thought.

“Annie?”

“Can I talk to you about something? It’s kind of important.”

“Sure.” He opened up the car door and they got inside. He turned to her. “What is it?”

“Did you see Shirley’s face in there? She’s worried she’s pregnant. I know Abed says she’s not, but I don’t think she agrees.”

He shrugged. “Kind of a mess, huh?”

Annie nodded. “Right.”

“You can talk to her tomorrow and find out if she’s still freaked out, though, right? Let’s just go to dinner.”

Annie sighed. “That’s not it. Of course I’m worried for Shirley. But that’s not the only thing I want to talk about.”

He furrowed his brow. “What is it?”

She looked down and began pulling at the edge of her cardigan. “I’ve been thinking about what happened on Halloween. I don’t think I can emphasize enough to you how important it is to me that we not slip up. I was really scared for a few minutes there, thinking we did something stupid.”

He placed a hand on her thigh. “I told you, I’m always prepared…”

She nodded. “I hate feeling out of control. I need things to be different between us, Jeff. I need to do this right this time. I need _us_ to be smart. You gave me that pen and that ink, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

He looked at her with a puzzled expression. “I’m not really following.”

“I think that’s in part why I flipped out today so much. And you saw how I was the other night with the coffee. I don’t ever want to be like that again.”

He continued to regard her, feeling like he was missing something. “It’s okay.”

She glanced up at him. “I talked to Nancy. She’s a nurse, you know. She recommended I talk to my doctor about getting on birth control.”

Realization dawned on his face. “I thought you said you hate taking pills.”

“She suggested something longer-term, like an IUD.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh.”

Annie nodded. “And I think that makes sense. I’ve thought about it before, but the idea of one just kinda freaked me out. But then I talked to Nancy about it, and she assured me they’re safe and extremely effective. And I guess it would help me not worry as much.”

He rubbed her knee as he slowly nodded. “I didn’t realize you were that worried.”

She shrugged. “I guess I always am in the back of my mind. But IUDs are like 99 point something effective.”

Jeff let out a breath. “Holy smokes.”

“And they last for several years.”

“Great.”

“I just thought I’d tell you. Especially after seeing Shirley with that test, I think I need to do this. I’ll call my doctor tomorrow and make an appointment.”

He nodded. “It makes sense.   I don’t want you to worry about stuff like that.”

She let out a nervous laugh. “I’m not having another whoops baby, Jeff.”

He smiled slightly. “That’s cute. Whoops sounds way better than _mistake_.”

Annie looked down and sighed. “It does. And hey, this way we don’t have to worry about the condoms. I won’t have a Britta moment with them all falling out of my purse. Thanks for being discreet about that, by the way.”

Jeff’s eyebrows went up. “Oh really?”

She laughed. “I knew that would be a selling point. Not that I wouldn’t do it anyway. But it might be nice for us.”

He stared off past the dash. “Wow. It’s been a loooong time since…”

She swatted the air. “And we did all that STI testing months ago anyway, so we’re good.”

Jeff was never so grateful for Annie’s ability to plan ahead.

She looked at him tentatively, “We are good, right? Cause I know things were undefined there for a while. But we can always do the testing again. It’s no big deal.”

His eyes shot back to her. “Annie, I told you I haven’t been with anyone else. Not even during that _undefined_ period. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll get re-tested.”

She looked at him intently, biting her lip. “Um…”

He kept his gaze steady. “I will.”

“You haven’t been with anyone else?”

“No.”

She let out a breath. “Okay then. No need for re-testing. I trust you.”

He stared at her, realizing that statement meant a lot coming from Annie Edison.

She took his hand. “I’ll just need you to come with me. Nancy recommends I get some pain medication. I don’t like the idea of that for obvious reasons, but I’ll do it. I won’t be able to drive myself home, and then I might need to rest for a little while, depending on how it goes.”

Jeff grimaced. “I’m sorry you have to go through that. Is there anything else we can do? Look I’m totally fine with continuing with the condoms.”

She adamantly shook her head. “Nope. I really want to do this. I’ll feel so much better, you have no idea.”

“Okay.” 

***************************

Annie was able to quickly schedule a time for her procedure, and it went off without any complications. The nurse, however, informed Jeff that apparently Annie had freaked out so they gave her a more intense pain medication. Turns out she was highly sensitive to it and being so tiny they may have given her a tad too much. Jeff gathered the needed information as he chewed the nurse out with all of his lawyerly ways, but luckily Annie was physically fine.

Once he got over his anger, Jeff realized slightly loopy Annie Edison was actually kind of amusing. And loose-lipped. He tucked her into his bed.

“So Jeeeefff, you are soooo sweeet. You are the sweeeeetest.”

“It’s true. I am.”

“And soon we can just hump like rabbits but without baby rabbits….”

“Yes, yes, Annie. That’s the idea.”

“I already have a baby rabbit. And she’s sooooo cuuuute. I looooove her.”

“I know. She’s very cute.”

“But I don’t want to be like Shiiirrrley. She’s has twoooo kids with Andraaaay, and now she’s stuuuuuck with him.”

Jeff nodded. “It’s okay, Annie. Look, why don’t you just let me finish settling you in here, and I’ll go pick up your baby rabbit from Nancy’s.”

“I don’t want to be stuuuuuuuuck with yoooou.”

He felt his chest tensing. “I see. You know, I’m not such a terrible person, am I? You said I was sweet.”

“You arrrreee, Jeeeeffff. I didn’t mean to make you saaaad. I looooooooove yooouuuu.”

His stomach flipped as he sat on the edge of the bed. “You love me?”

“But you can’t knoooow that.”

He frowned, conscious of his heart rapidly fluttering.   “Why can’t I know that? You told that hippie you loved him. You don’t know this, but I overheard you.”

Annie rolled her eyes and turned on her side. She placed a hand near her mouth. “Cause…..that’s different. I looved him. But I looooooooove yooooouuu.”

Jeff was aware of more sensations in his chest, which confused him. “Annie, look…..”

“I dooon’t want you to be stuuuuuck with meee. So no babeeee no stuckeeeee.”

He felt a hot sensation near his eyes. _What the hell?_ He whispered, “Annie, I’d never feel stuck with you. You’re amazing.”

Annie started to cry softly. “Yoouuuu say that cause you’re sweeeet. Shirrrrleeeey’s stuck agaaaaiiiinn.”

He moved to lay himself down next to her, turning on his side to face her. He wiped a tear falling down her face. “I don’t understand.”

Annie stared into his eyes with a look of alarm. “She’s going to have another baabeeee.”

“No she’s not. Remember what Abed said.”

“Abed’s wrooooong. I helped her with the test. She’s preeeeeggers.”

Jeff gulped. “Oh no. Really?”

“Yeeessss. And she’s scaaaared.”

He gripped one of her hands. “Look Annie, please get some sleep and we’ll talk about this later. We’ll help Shirley. Everything will be okay.”

“Reeeallly?”

“Yes. You can trust me.”

 

 

 

 


	19. Uncovering of Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff investigate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (very mild smut)
> 
> Thanks to those of you who celebrated Ian Duncan Appreciation Day with me over on tumblr. I was in the midst of editing this chapter during the celebrations. You’ll see why I mention this shortly. And to assuage any fears, the mild smut is separate.

“You cannot, under any circumstances, tell Shirley I told you about the baby.”

Jeff sighed as he pushed a hand through his hair. “Annie, it’s going to come out sooner or later. Unless…” He paused as he eyed Annie sheepishly. He then ventured, “Is she keeping it?”

Annie narrowed her eyes at him over her cereal. “Of course she’s keeping it! You know how religious she is. And against her better judgment, she _loves_ Andre.”

“Well then she’ll have to tell us all eventually anyway.” Jeff grimaced, trying not to dwell on what Annie had said the previous evening about Shirley feeling _stuck_ with Andre. Despite her judgy tendencies, he really didn’t want that for Shirley.

Annie added, “We need to let her do that on her own terms. And I shouldn’t have betrayed her trust.” She shook her head as she turned to give Sophie a small piece of bread.

Sophie gleefully grabbed it and shoved it in her mouth.

“ _MumMummmm”_ (Sophie-speak for food)

Jeff’s eyebrows rose as he watched Sophie smoosh pieces of bread into her mangled egg yolk and gobble up the whole thing. He may have shuddered slightly.

“Fine, I won’t say anything.” He moved his head downward and began to stab his egg whites with a fork.

“Thank you.” Annie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Within moments her face began to turn pink. “I can’t believe I let that medication get to me and say all those things last night.”

Jeff looked up and remarked nonchalantly, “All those things?”

Annie turned back to her plate and began running her index finger around the edge. She watched her actions as she remarked, “I’m sorry I was so loopy. I don’t know what I was saying.”

“So you didn’t mean all those things you said?”

Annie bit her lip, looking at him with a hint of tears in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. When I said I didn’t want to be stuck with you. I didn’t mean it that way.”

He sighed and smiled wearily. “I know.”

They were silent for some moments, letting many things go unsaid. Jeff was conscious of a question on his mind, one he wasn’t sure he really wanted to discuss at present. Mainly because he wasn’t sure what he would add or most importantly, what Annie would do if they ventured into such a talk. Judging by her nervous behavior this morning, he almost thought she’d bolt right out of the apartment.

He made the tactical and safe decision to turn back to his eggs.

Annie continued to bite her lip as she turned to place some banana slices in front of Sophie. She remarked with a tremble in her voice, “Thanks for taking care of me last night. I really appreciate it.” _Is he just going to let me off the hook? Does he wonder if I meant it?_

She looked over at him and smiled tentatively.

Jeff returned her gaze and slowly nodded. “Of course. And I’m just glad everything went okay and you’re feeling better.”

Annie’s posture relaxed and her smile transformed from nervous to coy. “Are we still on for tonight? Lacey can still watch Sophie for a little while. I was thinking maybe it could kind of be a _special_ date night?”

Jeff reached over and wiped some drool and egg off Sophie’s face as she shoved another piece of bread in her mouth. He smirked at her for a second as he replied to Annie, “Special? You mean our sixth month anniversary? That’s not for two more days.”

Annie’s mouth fell open and a quick squeak escaped. “Oh! I didn’t think…” She stared upward as she did mental calculations.

“November 20th. That’s you’re _birthday_!” Her eyes widened. “Our sixth month anniversary is on your birthday? Are we counting May 20 th as…” she trailed off as she brought her gaze back to Jeff.

Jeff shrugged. He stabbed another piece of egg, replying softly, “I was.”

Annie mumbled, “I guess that makes sense. The night of the Tranny Dance.”

“Do you not count it?” Jeff’s voice remained low and devoid of any overt emotion.

Anne placed a hand near her mouth. “Um… _yes_. Oh my God, our sixth month anniversary is on your birthday!”

Jeff let out a low laugh as he looked over to her, his eyes beginning to sparkle. “Happy birthday to me.”

She smiled at him and tilted her head. “You’re not weirded out by that?”

He shrugged again. “Nah. Less pressure actually. We can just celebrate my birthday. Not that I normally do so, but you’ve been hinting that you and the baby hobbit are up to something.” He cast Sophie an overly suspicious glare.

Sophie giggled in response to Jeff’s expression and smacked her tray with an open palmed hand.

Annie grinned as her eyes darted between them. “We are. Sophie’s pretty sure you’ll like her present.”

Jeff stifled a laugh. “I can’t wait.” _She always pretends it’s Sophie who’s the one doing things. I wonder if she’ll actually admit to getting me a present this year?_

He suddenly frowned in confusion, ”Wait, if my birthday is in two days, then what did you mean about a _special_ date night tonight?”

Annie’s cheeks suddenly reddened. She looked at him quickly and then darted her eyes away. “The doctor said we can, _you know_ , whenever. Should be fine.”

Jeff gulped, his eyes almost bulging. “Yeah.”

Jeff stared as Annie laughed in response to his enthusiasm. He continued to watch her as she shot him flirty glances during the rest of breakfast. He almost couldn’t pay attention to what she was saying. Sure, part of him was thinking about _special_ time later, but he surprised himself with the content of most of his thoughts and physical sensations.

He was conscious of that familiar pang in his chest. It wasn’t the panicky feeling he’d get if she walked out the door but it was more akin to…what was it? What had his therapist said? He couldn’t quite remember. Anticipatory grief? Was that a thing?

All he knew was that non-medicated Annie Edison in the light of day didn’t want him to know she loved him.

She loved him.

Even if she could get to a place where she could trust him enough to say it again, what would he say back?

He usually didn’t allow himself to get this far in relationships.

How do you know if you’re in love? 

************

“Annie! Wait up. I need to speak with you.”

Annie turned and gritted her teeth as the Dean shuffled over to her in the hallway. “Of course, Dean Pelton. What is it?”

The Dean leaned in and whispered, “It’s my assistant, Agnes. She’s been messing everything up lately. I don’t know what to do with her. I was wondering if you would be interested in picking up some extra income? I need a bunch of things re-filed and sorted.”

Annie raised her eyebrows skeptically. “Really?”

The Dean nodded as he placed one hand on his upper chest. “You’re my first thought. Best student at Greendale and your attention to detail is _impeccable_. I need this done ASAP. The regional accreditation boards are breathing down my neck. And between you and me, we didn’t do so well on our last inspection.” He looked around the hallway with an air of dismay coupled with resignation.  

He then let out a prolonged sigh.

Annie smiled, gripping her folder to her chest. “I’d love to, but I need to pick up Sophie from daycare, and unless you pay me enough to offset that cost, I can’t do it.”

The Dean waved his hand in the air. “Not a problem. Bring her with you, and I’m sure between Agnes and me we can keep her occupied. She’s such a cutie. But really, if you do a good job on this task, maybe you and I can work something out for continued work. And we can discuss childcare issues.”

“But I have a job…”

\--“Off campus. I know. Let’s chat later.” 

************

“You’re a wild one, Winger. Hanging out with your old pal instead of Big… _Annie_.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Yes, this is certainly _wild_. Sitting here in your office.”

“With whiskey, my friend. Cheers.” Ian clinked his coffee mug up to Jeff’s.

Jeff made sure to sip his drink, not wanting to over do it. The last thing he wanted was to have Annie catch him drunk in the middle of the day. That would likely be a tad too _Adam-esque_. And maybe, just maybe, he was in the process of re-evaluating his relationship to daytime drinking.

He had a lot on his mind.

Ian took a hearty swig. “Ahh….that’s better. So where is your little girlfriend anyway?”

“She’s helping the Dean with some administrative issues. Apparently he’s paying her.”  
  
“And the child?” Ian eyed him over his mug.

“She’s with Annie. The Dean doesn’t seem to mind having her around as long as he doesn’t have to go through all the boxes. I hope Annie’s doing the right thing in allowing him to keep an eye on her. Even if they’re in the same room, that makes me nervous. It’s the _Dean._ ” Jeff leaned back and began looking around the room, noting the various titles of the books littering Ian’s bookshelves.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t left her with you.”

“She knew I was coming here.”

Ian grinned. “Oooh…I’m flattered. I win out over that curly-mopped tot.”

Jeff sighed as he stretched out and moved his attention back to Ian. “Like I had a choice. You sounded cryptic in your message. Which makes me wonder how long you’ve been sitting here with your liquid friend.” He gestured with his head toward Ian’s mug.

Ian waived his hand dismissively as he avoided the second part of Jeff’s statement. “It’s that damn smell in my classroom again. I can’t get it to go away.”

“Like I care.” Jeff smirked.

Ian leaned forward and stared wide-eyed at Jeff. “Do you know anything about it?”

“Of course not.” Jeff shifted slightly in his chair as he attempted to suppress a laugh.

Ian stabbed the air with his index finger. “You do! You do know! I swear everyone’s out to get me! Making my life difficult.”

Jeff sighed and affected a yawn, knowing that would drive him crazy. “You may want to have a chat with your oldest student. The one who’s almost dead.”

Ian squinted his eyes. “Leonard or Pierce?”

“The first one.”

Ian nodded thoughtfully as he scribbled something down on a notepad he had produced sometime during their conversation. “Thank you, my friend. At least I can count on _you_ not to sabotage me.” He took another swig from his mug.

“What in hell are you talking about?”

Ian leaned further over his desk, cupping his hand near his mouth. He lowered his voice to an almost whisper, “It’s this damn place. Greendale. It’s trying to drive me _insane_. And I should know, I’m a psychology professor.”

“I see.”

Jeff watched as Ian’s face began to contort into a fearful and then pained expression. And that disturbing sight was perhaps followed by a look of abject horror.

Ian lurched forward completely over the desk and grabbed Jeff’s arm.

“Hey! Let go!” Jeff attempted to pull his arm back as Ian latched on. He ended up pulling the drunken lunatic halfway across his desk.

Ian gasped frantically, “Let me see…do you have bite marks?”

“Goddamn it! Let go! Of course I don’t have bite marks.” Jeff forcefully disentangled his arm from Ian’s hands and scowled.

Ian lay face down on the desk, his legs kicking freely in the air. He whined softly, “Are you _sure_?”

“Why would I have bite marks? Now you sound like Annie.”

Ian lifted his head slightly so he could see Jeff’s face. “Annie?”

Jeff sighed. “Annie’s been saying she thinks we were bitten by Garrett on Halloween. None of us remember anything. Isn’t that crazy?”

Ian pushed himself up and began inching his way backward to his side of the desk in an attempt to regain his dignity. He mumbled, “So there _were_ bite marks.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “There were _marks_ , but we probably just fell into something.”

“Even you don’t believe that, my friend.” Ian slammed back another shot of whiskey.

He shuddered before continuing, “But we should probably stop talking about this. The walls have ears.” His eyes darted back and forth.

Jeff squinted at him. “What the _hell_?”

“And don’t mention this conversation to anyone. They won’t find me.” Ian jotted something in his notebook and then slammed it shut. He began to rock back and forth as he protectively cupped his mug.

Jeff stared at him.

Ian continued to rock his body forward and backward, as he remained hunched over his drink. “There are so many disturbing things I’ve learned in my time here at Greendale. My god, it’s terrifying.”  
  
Jeff let out a long sigh as he ran a hand over his scruff in frustration. “I’m going to regret this…. Like what?”

Ian adamantly shook his head. “Can’t tell. Too disturbing. Must keep secrets.”

Jeff stood up and poured another shot into Ian’s mug before sitting back down. “Go on.”

Jeff watched as Ian’s face began to get even paler (which he didn’t think was possible) as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Ian mumbled, “You wouldn’t believe the things I know. Buzz… I thought he was my father, can you believe that? Turns out I was wrong. But now there’s cousin Clive….”

“ _What?_ ”

Ian cast his eyes downward and hit the desk with a closed fist. “And then there’s _her_. That damn woman won’t leave me alone.”

“The hell you say. Who?”

“Can’t discuss it.” He looked back up at Jeff with wide eyes. “You’re good at dodging women aren’t you, Winger? I have never had the occasion to pull out diversionary tactics myself, but I could use some pointers.”

Jeff smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe. Tell me more.”

Ian shook his head again. “Can’t do that.” He looked off toward the far wall for a moment before frowning as if in deep thought. “And maybe I shouldn’t be coming to you for advice given you seem to be a _one-woman man_ these days.”

Jeff looked down and spied a crumpled piece of fabric on the floor. _Is that flannel?_    He remarked nonchalantly, “Fine then don’t tell me.”

Ian cleared his throat as he sat up straighter. “How are things with _Annie_ anyway?”

Jeff stared intently at his mug of whiskey, swirling it around in his hand. “No complaints.”

Ian squinted his eyes at Jeff.   “My psychology meter is going off. There is no smooth sailing in Winger romance land, we all know that. And word travels fast around here. _I told you the walls have ears._ And Annie screams pretty loudly. Especially during puppy parades.”

Jeff winced.

“My, my she was tightly wound last week, wasn’t she? And she’s dating _you_ so…”

Jeff sighed. “This may surprise you, but it had nothing to do with me.”

“Rumor has it she was freaking out over a pen you gave her.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “You have spies now?”

Ian leaned back in his chair, placing his arms in back of his head. He thumped his feet on the desk. “If Annie was that upset over losing _a pen_ you gave her, then my guess is all is not well in Edison-Winger land.”

“I’m not following.”

“Don’t you see? _You’re_ the pen. Or more accurately, your _relationship_ is the pen.”

“You seem to know a lot. Exactly who have you been talking to?”

“Tut tut, my friend. Let’s not get distracted. Annie was clearly upset at losing _you_. So what did you do to cause her to think that?”

Jeff groaned. “I haven’t done anything! She keeps thinking I’m like that _douche_ , who I finally met, by the way…”

\--“Sophie’s father.”

“Wait, how did you…”

\--“Not important. What is important is that _of course_ Annie is scared you’ll be like him. Poor girl was traumatized. And I’m sure seeing the two of you together was not the most pleasant experience. And anything else that happened around that little visit.”

Jeff eyed Ian suspiciously. “I’m going to let your freaky knowledge pass for a moment and just say maybe, _maybe_ you’re on to something. But then why would she tell me she l….” Jeff stopped suddenly and paled.

Ian shot up in his chair. “Did she say it? She told you she loves you?”

“No! That’s not what I was going to say!”

Ian’s voice rose giddily, “It _was_! Oh my god, what did you say back? Did you finally tell her?”

“Tell her _what_?”

“Oh my boy, you need another drink.”

Jeff shook his head. “Nope. Gotta go. It’s like eleven am, Ian. Christ.” He stood up and left his half-touched mug on the table.

As Jeff placed his hand on the doorknob, Ian uttered gravely, “Be careful out there, my friend. Conspiracies abound. This place is not to be trusted.” 

******************

After he emerged from the paranoid bubble of Ian Duncan’s office, Jeff’s day grew even stranger. He found himself caught off guard by the Dean’s accusations and even more so by Annie’s fierce determination to get to the bottom of his fake conspiracy class.

“You’re terrible! I can’t believe you’re so _lazy_!” She swatted him for the millionth time.

He grinned for the zillionth time. “Oh come on, Annie. This is great. I get to keep my credit. Let’s just let this go.”

Annie’s eyes widened in horror. “Let this go?!? Again, do you now me at all? Since when do I let anything go, Jeff? This is about _academics_!”

Jeff sighed as he looked down at her with twinkling eyes. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve been deceptive. But I didn’t mean to lie to _you.”_

She placed her hands on her hips and looked up at him defiantly. “You thought I wouldn’t find out.”

“Exactly. The Dean is a different matter.”

She swatted him again. “Jeeeeff! Lies by omission are still _lies!_ And the Dean is a sweetheart!”

“I thought I was your sweetheart?” He continued to watch her with intense amusement.

She squinted at him and affected a serious expression. “ _My daughter_ is my sweetheart. The rest of you are ridiculous!”

Jeff held back a laugh. “Look, I’m sorry. You know I hate putting effort into grades. I really didn’t think making up a fake class and fake professor was that big of a deal. But even if I were to own up to it now, what good would it do? Turns out there _is_ a Professor Professorson! Isn’t that amazing? It’s like divine intervention!”

She punched him lightly on the shoulder. “No! No, no, no! We need to get to the bottom of this! And then we’re having a serious talk about your _laziness_! And your cynicism, Jeff!”

“Oh, I think part of you likes it. You wish you could break the rules.”

“I do not.”

“Just a little bit?”

She cast a quick glance around their area of the hallway and lowered her voice, “You’re the one who had sex with me on the Dean’s desk!”

“Oh please, Annie. Here, let’s…” He placed his arms around her lower back and pulled her closer to him.

She moved her head to his chest and whispered, “Did you know the Dean’s security cameras were _wiped_? Thank god!”

“What?!?” He looked down at her in confusion.

“When I was helping him sort through the files, he told me that he has a security camera in his office. And other places on campus. But apparently there was some glitch in the system on Halloween and all footage was lost of that night.”

Jeff paled. “Oh my god.”

She craned her neck to meet his gaze. She continued to whisper, “See? You’re so irresponsible, Jeff! _Sex_ on the Dean’s desk! Oh my god!”

Jeff suddenly let out a low rumbling laugh. “Annie, Don’t you see what this is? It’s divine intervention again! In fact, if it were a different topic, I’d totally brag to Shirley.”

Annie pushed herself away from him and shook her head. “You’re terrible.”

He watched her get more flustered, turning a bright and adorable shade of pink. Despite her protestations, he knew it was a fairly mundane moment for them.

And for that moment everything seemed to stop.

_I don’t want to lose you. Ever._

“Jeff?”

“Sorry. You were saying?”

“You’re so lazy.”

“Could you throw yourself on the floor again like you did in the hallway earlier? When you said I was blowing everything off? That was awesome.” 

**************************

“I probably didn’t need to tackle you.”

She looked up at him and batted her eyes.  

“Probably not.”

He licked his lips and then moved his face closer to hers. She raised her head up slightly as they began to kiss, slowly and deeply.

She was able to move her head back to the ground as Jeff pressed himself against her. Despite the body contact, she was pretty sure he was resting most of weight on his arms.

His strong, muscular arms.

_Is it hot in here?_

She tasted the mintiness of his breath, wondering how often he popped a breath strip. He usually tasted delicious. Almost like he was just waiting to kiss someone. Or for someone to kiss him.

“Ahem. Guys, can you like not make out right here?”

They abruptly stopped and turned their heads to the side. Annie let out a squeak.

Jeff’s voice had an irritated edge. “Um…Troy, can you please take whatever you are doing off somewhere else?” He eyed Troy’s odd attire as well as the various blankets piled in his arms.

Annie began to blush furiously. “Troy!”

Troy stared back and forth between them. He then smiled. “Gotcha. But just so you guys know, this door does not lock. Trust me on this. It. Does. Not. Lock.” He nodded gravely as he exaggerated jiggling the handle to the study room door.

As he continued to hover over Annie, Jeff sighed. “Thanks, Troy. Now if you don’t mind?”

Troy nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door.

Jeff turned his attention back to Annie and smirked. “So where were we?”

She narrowed her eyes for a moment while almost appearing as if she were suppressing a smile. “I was almost blown up, Jeff. You were going to _avenge_ me.”

“See, I thought I was going to ravage you.”

She slapped his shoulder and affected an overly serious expression. “Avenge me!” 

************************

Turns out Annie and Jeff ended up spending their _special_ date night going to night school.   Jeff insisted, saying Annie was almost blown up. Annie smirked slightly and then went ahead with his scheme.

After a confrontation with Professor Professorson/Wooley, there was a medium-paced pursuit through the ever-expanding blanket fort and a thrilling chase in the middle of the Latvian independence parade. This was followed by yet another confrontation, discoveries about the supposed true nature of Greendale’s night school, and a further revelation of the Professor’s actual identity as the drama teacher, Sean Garrity.

After the reveal, Jeff proposed the use of fake guns in a plan to get even with the Dean, and everything got crazier from there.

Conspiracy upon conspiracy.

Deception upon deception.

Revelation upon revelation.

The whole thing cumulated in a ‘gun’ battle. First Annie shot Garrity. Then the Dean shot Annie. Then Jeff shot the Dean.   Then Annie resurrected herself and chastised Jeff.

Jeff gasped in indignation, “He _shot_ you!”

Annie shrieked, “Not really! He and I were in on this from the start. When we were going through the files, we discovered you were faking the class. We cooked up this whole conspiracy thing to illustrate the slippery slope of academic fraud!” She began to let out quick sobs.

Jeff narrowed his eyes. “You know what you actually illustrated Annie? How to be a crappy girlfriend.” Jeff then bent down and smugly pulled the Dean up by one hand.

The Dean rose to his feet and nodded with a sense of superiority as Annie’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Jeff explained, “Once it was obvious the Dean had orchestrated everything it was even more obvious the Dean was too stupid to orchestrate anything.”

The Dean smiled, “Um hum.”

“So on a hunch I called him and we hatched a plan to teach you a lesson or two about girlfriend loyalty.”

Annie gasped, “But I only did all of this because I _am_ loyal! But to your _best_ self! You’re so much better than this, Jeff!”

Jeff leaned forward slightly and addressed her in an even tone, “When you’re in a relationship with someone you have to take them as they are. People are not playthings, Annie.”

The Dean shook his head solemnly. “No, they are not.”

“Look who’s talking.” She reached around her back to pull out a hidden gun and pointed it at Jeff. “After everything you’ve put me through.”

Jeff’s looked at her with alarm. “Okay, where did you get that gun? There are only three prop guns.”

Annie continued to hold out the weapon in front of her, her hands clutching it familiarly. She stated confidently, “Yeah well you know I live in a terrible neighborhood.”

Jeff puts his hands up and began to back away. Annie continued to step toward him as the Dean stood nervously off to the side.

“Annie put the gun down.”

“After we kissed the night of the Tranny Dance, we decided to keep everything casual, because you insisted to me that you couldn’t be exclusive, that you couldn’t commit to any one person. And I agreed because that’s what I expected of you. And I told myself it was okay, that it was better this way. I didn’t want to be disappointed again. I didn’t want to get my heart broken. And I didn’t want to fall in love. But then you know what you did, you stupid handsome hobo? _You changed the rules._ You told me you _wanted me._ And you’ve been so adorably sweet with Sophie. And then you went ahead and kept _pressuring me_.”

“Annie, I don’t know what you mean…”

“Let me finish! You kept being so _sweet_ in your handsome, sarcastic, lovable way! And you’re so _academically lazy_! And _damn you_! _I fell in love with you!_ But I can’t go through that again! Every man I’ve ever loved has left me! I can’t!”

Jeff’s face contorted in anguish.

“Annie just put the gu…”

She shot him, and he fell down against the glass door.

The Dean screamed, “Annie what have you done?!?”

“If you love Jeff winger so much why did you conspire with me against him?”

“I don’t know! I can’t keep track of any of it anymore. I just keep teaming up with whoever suggests it.”

“Glad to hear you admit it,” Jeff popped up as the Dean let out another scream. 

**********************

Later on, the Greendale Seven reunited in a section of the blanket fort, eating food procured by Shirley and Pierce from Uncle Rusty’s. Even Pierce had managed to find his way into the fort without the aid of his wheelchair and was happily gobbling down some ultimate burgers. His face was so full of food that it appeared he hadn’t uttered an entire offensive word in quite some time.

Jeff cast bemused looks around the group as he lounged at Annie’s side.

“I’m not really sure what lessons we’ve managed to teach each other but I’m proud of Annie. She took to deception like Abed took to Cougar Town, especially when she went off script.” He suppressed a grin, casting a quick look at Annie.

Annie shrugged and remarked in a blasé tone but with a hint of a smile, “You said to be convincing.”

Britta looked at them suspiciously as she popped a French fry in her mouth.

Pavel then came crawling in and alerted Abed and Troy to a newspaper headline about other colleges building similar blanket forts.

Troy remarked, “We’ve gone mainstream.”

Without missing a beat, Abed declared, “Initiate Protocol Omega.”

Troy nodded and they both began to collapse the massive blanket fort.

As the blankets fell, the group dispersed and/or were engulfed in fabric. Annie and Jeff turned to look at each other in bewilderment.  

Jeff suddenly leaned in and gave her a soft kiss, which she reciprocated. He then pulled her to him as they fell completely on their sides, facing each other.

Annie giggled as the blankets covered them completely.

Jeff whispered, “You were very convincing earlier. You sounded like you hated me.”

She matched his volume as she responded, “You know I don’t hate you.”

“No, apparently you don’t _hate_ me.”

“You already knew that, dummy.”

“Knew what?” He teased.

She stated softly while she fluttered her eyelashes, “That I love you.”

A grin began spreading over his face. “See? That wasn’t so difficult. And you’re not even drugged this time.”

She crinkled her eyes at him.   “Stop teasing me. I remember everything I said last night.”

His smile faded. “Then how come we didn’t talk about it this morning? Is it because of all those things you said in the study room?”

Annie looked to the side and frowned. “I’m sorry I was so dramatic.”

He continued to whisper, “You said you didn’t want to fall in love with me. You think I’m going to bail.”

She shrugged as she continued looking away. “It would be easier if I didn’t love you.”

“Because I’m a stupid handsome hobo.”

“You are.”

Jeff eyed her with concern and then took a deep breath. “I love you too.”

She quickly moved her eyes back to his and said softly, “I know. I think you love all of us. Your misfit study group. And I’ve always felt loved by you.”

He rubbed a thumb on her chin and gently tilted her face toward him. “I should clarify that I’m pretty sure I’m _in love_ with you.”

A tear began to fall down Annie’s cheek.

He added for good measure, “And it doesn’t apply to Pierce or the rest of them.”

“You are?” Her voice trembled slightly.

Jeff felt something catch in his throat. He made the decision to brave on and replied, “Yup. Not quite sure when it happened, but I think I have been for awhile.”

“Really?”

“Christ. Why is that so astoundingly difficult for you to believe?”

There were a few beats of silence before Annie whispered, “I do believe you. I just don’t know what to do now that we’ve said it. Bad things have happened before when…”

He interjected, “We don’t have to do anything.”

She nodded and let out a little sigh. “I guess not. I really like things the way they are.”

“Me too.”

“So we can just say we love each other now, is that it?” She tilted her head to the side and gazed at him with her doe eyes.

He smiled. “I guess. _I_ don’t have much experience in this area.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You know I wasn’t _in love_ with Vaughn. And I still don’t know when you were eavesdropping on us.”

“Can we please not discuss him right now? We should be taking advantage of this clandestine moment, Annie.” He reached over and pulled her into a kiss.

She smiled against his lips. “Mmmm hummmm.” 

************************

Although they spent a significant portion of their evening at night school before the blanket fort’s collapse, Annie and Jeff were able to salvage some of their special date time.   They headed back to Jeff’s place, aware they needed to pick up Sophie in an hour.

Annie grabbed Jeff’s hand in the elevator and reached up on her tiptoes to place a demure kiss on his cheek.

He smirked, perhaps blushing just a little. “What was that for?”

“For being lazy and engaging in academic fraud.”

“I see.” He made every effort to push down his urge to grin.

They walked hand in hand down the hall. Jeff took out his keys and then pushed open the door.

Annie suddenly shoved him into the apartment. Jeff dropped his keys and pulled her close to him as he made his way backward into the living room. Somehow during this maneuvering, Annie managed to kick the door closed.

They kissed frantically as Jeff bumped into the couch.

“Ouch,” He mumbled, moving one hand into her hair while the other grabbed her waist.

Annie pulled her mouth free and gasped before commanding him, “Pick me up.”

“Yes, milady.”

She may have rolled her eyes slightly at his words and was conscious of not giving him the satisfaction of responding as he might have expected her to. _After all, he is lazy. He needs to work a little harder._

He obediently lifted her off the ground, and she wrapped her legs around his torso.

She may have squealed. Between kisses, she stated, “Bedroom.”

“Um hmmm.”

Jeff practically ran.

As he placed her on the bed, she pulled him over her.

They continued kissing in earnest, Annie scraping her nails against his shoulders. He then moved his mouth away from hers and began nibbling her neck while he moved against her.

She gasped, “I want you inside me. Now.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise at her words. _Goddamn she’s sexy._

“Yes, mi-“ He garbled the rest as she pushed him onto his back and proceeded to undo his zipper. Within seconds he had shimmied out of his pants and boxer briefs (Hanro) and Annie had yanked off her yellow cardigan and hoisted up her skirt. Jeff glanced down and saw that miraculously her panties and tights had ended up at the foot of the bed.

He closed his eyes, groaning in satisfaction as she slid down onto him.

“Jesus, Annie.”

She stilled for a moment and then sighed. “Oh god.”

Jeff opened his eyes and watched her face, noticing her lip was quivering.

“Annie, you feel amazing.”

“Jeeeefff…”

“Hm?” He bucked up once into her.

She bit her lip as she stared into his eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More sexy times await, dear readers.


	20. Jeff’s Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff celebrates his birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> very mild smut (more suggestive)
> 
> And not-so-mild fluff. Enjoy!

“It’s so great your birthday is a on a Saturday this year! And I made sure they didn’t schedule me all day!” Annie clapped her hands together as they sat on the floor in front of Jeff’s couch that Friday evening. Sophie was next to Annie, flipping through one of her cardboard baby books while making various chuckling noises.

Jeff’s eyebrows rose as he heard the latest laugh from Sophie. He moved his gaze from Sophie back to Annie and smirked.

“Hippos?”

Annie placed a kiss on Sophie’s head. “Of course.”

“I see.”

He sat there for a moment, watching Annie watch him. There was a gleam in her eye.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He squinted his eyes. “You’re up to something.”

“Of course I am.”

“My birthday?”

“Duh.”

He let out a groan. “Annie, we don’t have to make that big of deal out of it. Let’s just hang out tomorrow. Then later on get some dinner, with or without the hobster here, depending on…”

Annie swatted the air as she interjected, “It’s all planned out already. I’m not going to let you have _control_ over your own birthday.”

“That’s an odd way of putting it.”

“You’re an odd guy.”

He squinted again at her, attempting to suppress a smile that was slowly fighting its way out. “You’re going to make me pancakes, aren’t you?”

“Spoilers.”

She eyed him with a confidence he couldn’t help but find endearing.

He leaned back, stretching out his arm behind her shoulders. “Hmmm….. You made pancakes this morning, despite me telling you not to. You know how I feel about carbs.”

Annie continued with smugness, “And you ate them. And you liked them. And you know I always make pancakes when I’m happy.”

“I thought maybe it was because you _loved_ me.” He moved his head toward hers and smirked.

“Look who’s getting all sappy, mister.”

“But you do?”

She leaned in to his side and sighed softly. “Yes, dum dum.”

“Um hum.” He let out a soft laugh.

He began to stroke her hair and carried on in low tone, “I hope you don’t expect me to get doubly sappy on you now and get you flowers and stuff. Cause I don’t do that.”

She tilted her head to catch his eye. “Why would I expect you to get me flowers on _your_ birthday?”

He paused for a moment, glancing at her and then looking away. “I meant at another time. I need you to know this, Annie. It’s vital information if we are going to do this whole _love_ thing. I don’t do flowers.”

“Why not?” She moved her head back to his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart.

He sighed. “Can we please not get into this right now? Just know that I don’t do that kind of stuff.”

She frowned as she replayed the conversation in her head. “But you’re the one who brought it up. I didn’t mention anything about flowers.”

As her head lay pressed against Jeff’s chest, Annie could feel his heart rate begin to speed up.

“I just wanted to mention it. Not _discuss_ it.”

She glanced up and eyed him curiously. “Jeff?”

“I don’t do flowers.”

She moved to sit back and then shrugged. “That’s okay. I don’t need flowers.”

“But you like them.”

She let out a long sigh of exasperation. “Yes I do, but if you don’t give them then I guess that’s something I’ll need to accept, right? That’s what you’re saying. So, fine. No flowers.”

These were one of those moments when she really had no clue what was going on in Jeff Winger’s brain. She hadn’t mentioned flowers. She hadn’t even brought up _love_ that evening. Clearly he had these things on his mind, and for some reason he felt he needed to communicate them to her urgently. She looked at him, wondering if it was her imagination that a couple beads of sweat had appeared on his brow.

_Maybe it’s the light?_

Jeff continued to explain, “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to be an ass. We’ll do something nice for your birthday, and we’ll do other stuff, whatever you want…”

Annie found herself thoughtlessly interjecting, “You got Michelle flowers. On Valentine’s Day. I saw you try to give them to her at the dance.”

She wondered where that came from, realizing she was having a Shirley moment. She hadn’t been aware she had been thinking of Michelle. But now that she paused to think about it, she did find herself often speculating what Jeff’s relationship with Michelle was really like. She wondered how different or similar things were between her and him.

Jeff closed his eyes. “That was different. I was being stupid. I thought that was what I was supposed to do. I hadn’t been in a relationship on Valentine’s Day before.”

Annie decided to persist, despite noticing he was visibly uncomfortable, almost as if he was painfully embarrassed. But she needed to know what was different.

“Right. And you got her flowers.”

He cringed. “I shouldn’t have. I felt awful doing it. I don’t want to feel awful with you.”

Annie felt herself drawn to him in his vulnerable state. Although he wasn’t articulating himself well (she still didn’t know what flowers meant to him), she could tell he was trying.

She remarked softly, “That’s actually kind of sweet.”

“Whatever.”

A grin began to spread across her face. “And one might say romantic.”

He rolled his eyes. “Where do you get _romantic_ out of that?”

“That you want things to be good between us. If you ever want to explain the flower thing to me, you can. But in the meantime I can accept it.”

Jeff nodded. “Thank you.”

“Sure. And you’re going to be old tomorrow, so I have to cut you some slack.”

“I’m not old.”

She pouted and batted her eyelashes. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Do you realize it will be an even greater age difference, year wise, between us for the next month? What will Shirley think?”

“Now you’re trying to rile me up.”

“Of course I am. Let’s not talk about flowers anymore. Let’s talk about your birthday.”

Sophie toddled over in front of Jeff and shoved an interactive fabric activity book in his face, dropping it on his lap.

He seamlessly grabbed her and hoisted her on his lap. He then flipped the book open to the first page.

He commented to Annie, “I thought you said no spoilers.”

Annie watched Jeff slowly flip to the next page so Sophie could feel the textured fabric.

She did a little bounce as she stated, “I’ll give you _some._ First, your mom wanted to talk with you on the phone in the morning. That will be after pancakes.”

He raised his eyebrows as he turned to the next page in the book. “My mom? How come…”

\--“We needed to schedule it. She knows Sophie has plans. You’re going to be busy the rest of the day.”

“Oookay.”

“So you’re going to indulge your mother and be a good son and talk to her for a little bit.”

Jeff groaned. “But we’re seeing her in a few days anyway. On Thanksgiving.” He reached down and assisted Sophie with pulling back a piece of Velcro in her book.

Annie narrowed her eyes at him. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day she brought you into this world. She’s your _mother_. I’m always going to call Sophie on her birthday. And she better talk to me.”

Jeff glanced down at Sophie, who was intently occupied with the Velcro. He thought about Annie’s relationship with her own mother, realizing it was highly unlikely she’d be calling Annie on December 19th. He suddenly felt like an ass.

He gulped. “Sorry. Yes, of course I’ll talk to my mom. I’ll thank her profusely for letting me gestate for nine months and then putting up with me for eighteen years.”

Annie punched him lightly on the shoulder. “That’s better. And then you’re going out.”

He gasped in mock indignation, “ _I’m_ going out?”

She nodded. “Yes. I’ll give you the details when it’s relevant. And we’ll meet up later for lunch.”

He leaned down and whispered to Sophie, “We don’t eat Velcro,” as he carefully removed the flap of fabric from her mouth and squished it back into place. He flipped the page to some snaps, which were probably a bit out of her league. But he figured at least she was unlikely to want to eat them.

He then glanced over at Annie, “And after lunch?”

“No more spoilers.”

He grinned. “Do I get sexy time?”

She looked up and then smiled coyly. “Only if you’re good and follow all the instructions tomorrow.”

“So there will be more _instructions_? I kinda liked the ones you gave me last night.” His mind flashed to the image of Annie instructing him to pick her up and take her to the bedroom.

Annie’s cheeks reddened. “Maybe. If you’re into that kind of thing.”

“Most definitely I am.” 

***************************

Jeff dutifully ate his pancakes the following morning after awaking to the aroma of batter coming from his kitchen. As much as he loathed carbs, he had to admit Annie’s pancakes were delicious. And he figured it would make her happy if he ate them. And he really liked seeing happy Annie.

Happy Annie. In one of his t-shirts. Making pancakes in his kitchen. He almost thought he was going to have a heart attack at the image.

But that didn’t make any sense right?

Or was this what it felt like to be _in love_?

After checking to make sure he wasn’t dying, he was fairly sure that’s what it meant.

After a breakfast full of Sophie _MummMumm_ interjections (for she also loved Annie’s pancakes), Annie excused herself to take a shower. Jeff was left making sure Sophie finished off the remainder of her breakfast, as she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to eat the last few bites. As he waited, he dutifully answered the phone when his mother called.

“Happy Birthday, dear.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“So Annie tells me you have a busy day.”

“Apparently.” He shot Sophie a look as she sat in her highchair and attempted to feed a remnant of pancake to her bear.   _This is new behavior._

He frowned and sat down next to her. He carefully pulled the squishy piece of pancake back from the bear’s mouth and moved it toward Sophie.

“I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

“Did Annie tell you what she’s planned?”

“Jeffrey! Please don’t put me in this position.”

“So you do know?” His voice rose teasingly. It was rare he could fluster his mother.

Sophie swatted Jeff’s hand away and shrieked.

“Yikes!”

“Is that Sophie, dear?”

“Who else would it be? I don’t have other babies lying around, mom.”

“Is she okay? She sounds upset.”

“She’s trying to feed her bear pancakes. I attempted to correct her, since her bear obviously can’t eat, and have her eat them instead. And now she’s smashing her high chair tray with her fist. I have no idea…”

“Let her feed the bear, dear. It’s important to her.”

“But the bear’s not alive.”

“She doesn’t know that. And it’s sweet she’s trying to feed it. Let her do it.”

Jeff sighed as Sophie continued to shriek. He cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear in order to free both his hands. He then handed the piece of pancake back to her and wiggled the bear slightly.

That action earned an immediate squeal of delight and additional feeding attempts.

“Jesus mom. That worked.”

“Good to know. Now dear, didn’t I call your landline?”

“Yes. I’m talking to you on it right now.”

There were a few beats of silence.

“You have a highchair?”

“Oh, um, yeah. We picked one up last week. Figured it would be easier.”

“Where is she sleeping?”

“Mom!”

“Jeffrey, you’re an adult. I’m not judging. In fact Annie told me you suggested getting a crib.”

“Did she?” He raised his eyebrows as he continued to move the bear back and forth in front of Sophie. There were additional _surprisingly_ _unsuccessful_ feeding attempts.

After a pause he added, “Nope, no crib. Annie vetoed it. Cagepen it is. But to answer your question, she mostly sleeps in her crib. At _Annie’s_.”

Dorie’s voice cracked slightly as she commented, “I see. As long as the two of you talked about it?”

“Mom, can we please not get into this right now? Thanks for helping me with the bear thing.”

“You used to do the same thing. Took you a bit longer though. She’s a precocious child.”

“Yeah. She is. I think she takes after Annie.”

He eyed the half closed bathroom door and watched the steam escape from the shower. 

**********************

“So here you go. She’s all ready.”   Annie grinned as she handed a smiling Sophie to him.

Jeff noted Sophie was wearing a purple dress, pink leggings, purple socks, and Velcro tennis shoes. He continued to marvel at how Annie always managed to get Sophie dressed quickly. He hadn’t been out of the room more than five minutes.

He nodded as he hoisted Sophie up in his arm. “Great. Now what?”

Annie put her hand to her mouth and stifled a laugh.

“Sophie wants you to take her to see Lauren. She’s due for another haircut.”

Jeff’s face broke out in an incredulous expression. As he watched Annie nod enthusiastically, he began to grin.

“Seriously?”

Annie’s face shifted to a serious expression as she responded, “Yes. Sophie already made an appointment. And she wanted you to go with her since you’re familiar with all the procedures.”

He smirked. “ _Sophie_ called Lauren?”

Annie nodded somberly. “Yes. I provided her with some assistance, of course. She doesn’t have the vocabulary yet to fully conduct such an interaction.”

Jeff leaned over and kissed Annie on the forehead. “You’re awesome.”

Annie began to smile. “You should thank Sophie. It was her idea. She knows how happy it makes you.”

“Annie…”

“It’s the happiest we’ve ever seen you, Jeff. That day in the salon. We want you to be happy today.”

She then looked over to the clock.

“You two should get going so you don’t miss her appointment.”

He eyed her curiously. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

Annie lightly pulled on Sophie’s dress in order to straighten the hem as she replied, “No. Sophie wanted you to take her. Plus I have some things I need to do. We’ll meet up afterward.”

“Where?”

She continued to look at him with a bemused expression. “I’ll text you the location. And I’ll need to borrow your apartment key.” 

********************

“Ta da! She’s all ready.” Lauren squeezed one more curl on Sophie’s head, allowing it to spring into place.

Jeff sat across from Sophie, wiggling her bear on his lap. Next to him on another chair was an array of Sophie distraction materials consisting of Ruthie, a sippy cup, and two baggies of half-eaten snacks. He smiled broadly, noting Sophie reciprocated and giggled.

He briefly glanced up. “She is adorable. Thanks, Lauren.”

He moved his eyes back to Sophie and carefully liberated her from the salon toddler chair.

Sophie put her arms up and yelled, _“Dee Deeff!”_

Lauren laughed as she began to put her instruments back in a drawer. “She talks now? That’s so cute.”

“We need to work on her volume.” Jeff squinted at Sophie as he scooped her into his arms. He turned to Lauren. “Thanks again for doing this.”

“No problem. She doesn’t need to come in very often, as long as we keep the shape. You can probably trim it at home, too. I explained that to your girlfriend, but she said it was important she get a proper haircut today.”

Jeff rolled his eyes as he hoisted Sophie up near his shoulder. “Yeah, it’s my birthday.”

Lauren tilted her head thoughtfully. “Really? That’s an odd connection.”

“I’ve been told I’m an odd guy.” 

************************

Jeff was in the middle of balancing a giggling Sophie in his arms while giving her a bunch of annoying kisses on her cheek (hey, no one was around to judge him) when he felt his phone vibrate. He made his way to the Lexus and settled Sophie in the carseat before he checked his phone.

There was the expected text from Annie.

[Annie]: Lauren says you’re done and Sophie is thrilled. Good job. Meet me at 3801 Dresser Ave :)

[Jeff]: Sure. Is that a house?

[Annie]: Spoilers ;)

Jeff smiled as he got into the driver seat. “Okay, munchkin. Let’s go find mommy.”

_“Mama_!”

“Right. Good job.” 

***********************

Jeff pulled up to 3801 Dresser Avenue. He frowned, realizing it was not a house.

It was a restaurant.

A restaurant called ‘Uncle Rusty’s.’ Jeff sensed something familiar about it, although he certainly had never been there before. He double-checked the address in the text message.

“Nope, this is it. Mommy’s at a place called Uncle Rusty’s. This should be good,” he remarked sardonically.

As he and Sophie neared the door, it dawned on him why he recognized the name. It was a burger joint. Shirley and Pierce had gone there two days ago and brought back burgers for the blanket fort. He wondered if Annie had asked them to make a reservation while they were there.

_Wait, why would Shirley and Pierce make a reservation? Unless…_

His eyes widened in realization as he walked through the door.

“Surprise!”

He scanned the room, noting perhaps unsurprisingly that all of the study group members were present. And Duncan and the Dean. He nodded, smiling tightly.

“Hi guys.”

_Well at least my mom’s not here._

Annie jogged over to him, grinning giddily. “Happy birthday!”

He bent down and gave her the opportunity to place a kiss on his cheek.

As she took a squealing Sophie from his arms, Jeff asked in a low voice, “You told everyone it was my birthday?”

She looked at him sheepishly and then lowered her voice to a whisper, “Well I thought it would be nice to celebrate with the study group. They all love you so much. And well, I know you and Professor Duncan are friends…”

He leaned over and whispered back, “And _the Dean_?”

“It was unavoidable. I’ll fill you in later.”

He nodded solemnly as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You surprised me.”

She smiled. “Good.”

As the Dean began to sashay over to Jeff, Annie adeptly moved in between them and allowed him to pat Sophie on the head. He blushed as he nodded to Sophie in greeting.

Looking up, the Dean took a moment to pause and then announce enthusiastically, “This is a Deanerific day! Jeffrey Winger’s birthday! My, my, I was so touched to be invited! It means so much to celebrate with all of you.” He lifted his glass of soda and stated confidently, “To Jeffrey. May you live long and prosper.”

Abed tilted his head to the side. “Although I prefer Star Wars, I do appreciate a good Star Trek reference. And if one is going to live long one would want to be prosperous.” He then nodded enthusiastically as if something made innate sense.

Troy, who was standing by his side, put his arm around Abed and pulled him into a side hug when he saw his friend’s rare relative expression of delight.

The rest of the group shrugged and lifted their glasses.

Ian ran over and handed Jeff a root beer.   “Here you go, Winger. Your favorite beverage.”

Jeff rolled his eyes.

“Happy Birthday, Jeff!” Annie called out as they all took a drink.

Britta let out a rare laugh as she watched Shirley’s eyes tear up. Britta nudged her side and mumbled, “You really are okay with his whole Jeff-Annie thing?”

Shirley nodded slightly, “I’m willing to be supportive, Brit-ta. And this is so nice of An-nie to get us all together for Jeffrey’s birthday. And look at them, aren’t they sweet?” She gestured her head toward Annie and Jeff and took a sip of her soda.  

Britta turned and watched as Jeff draped his arms around Annie and Sophie in a hug while he whispered something to her. Annie laughed.

She squinted as she commented to Shirley, “Something’s different between those two. I noticed it the other night in the blanket fort.”

“Different?”

Britta nodded slowly as she placed her glass of soda on the table. She grabbed her bag off the floor and began rifling through it as she mumbled, “Don’t they seem extra cozy? What did you call it? Googly eyes? They’re doing that more and more. Makes me want to puke.”

“Now, Brit-ta, I think it’s nice. An-nie has a good head on her shoulders.”

Britta frowned as she produced a flask from her purse. “Since when do you think of Annie as mature? You’re always going on about how you feel she needs more guidance. Specifically from _you_ and the lord.” She poured some liquid from the flask into her soda cup and held it up to Shirley.

Shirley shook her head. “I’ve been re-thinking my opinion on that. Of course the girl could use the Lord, but she’s more grounded than I would have thought.”

“There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I don’t know what you mean, Brit-ta.”

Britta shrugged and looked away. Her eyes trailed over to Ian standing at Jeff’s side. He glanced at her over the rims of his glasses. She raised the flask and wiggled it with a questioning look.

Ian tugged at his collar, turned away, and slapped Jeff on the back.

“Happy birthday, my friend. I didn’t even know it was your birthday until your Annie clued me in. Now why is that?”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Jeff scowled as he drank some root beer, grimacing slightly.

_I could definitely use some alcohol with this, but Annie would kill me. And that’s probably why she didn’t choose a bar._

The Dean managed to move past Annie and grab Jeff into a hug. “I am just so _honored_. I feel like part of the group!”

Jeff gulped as he pushed against the Dean. Ian exchanged glances with Annie and quickly pulled the Dean off of Jeff. He maneuvered him over to a remote side table.

Pierce blew into his straw and propelled his wheelchair in a circle. He appeared to be a in a state of dizzying excitement at being included.

Troy and Abed looked around the room at everyone, then at each other, and nodded.

They ran to the backroom to get the birthday cake. 

**********************

“You’re something, you know that?” Jeff’s voice rose teasingly as they made their way into his apartment.

Annie pouted, perhaps a bit too obviously, as she asked, “Are you mad?”

“Nah. But I don’t see why the Dean was there. Or Pierce. Or Ian.”

She swatted him with her free hand. “Jeff! Pierce is part of the group. And Professor Duncan is your friend. And well, the Dean…. I couldn’t get out of it. He overheard me and Professor Duncan discussing it when I was helping him with the files.”

“Got it.”

 “You’re mad.” She moved her head to the side and looked up at him with her Disney eyes.

“Annie, I’m not mad. I had a nice time. Really, thank you. And a double thank you for making sure it was a _no gifts_ celebration. I shudder to think what the Dean would have given me.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “I know you usually ignore your birthday, but Professor Duncan and I thought it would be nice.”

“You and _Ian_ planned this?”

“Yes.”

“Whose idea was it?”

“Mine mostly. But I wanted to get his take on it.”

Annie placed Sophie on the floor. Jeff watched as the kid promptly took off for her beanbag/toy area near the far living room wall.

He let out a quick laugh as he saw Sophie hurl herself onto the beanbag with a squeal. He turned to Annie and ventured, “So you’re staying over here tonight?”

“If that’s okay.”

“You know it is.” He pulled her into his chest and kissed her head.

She craned her neck so that she could see his face. “I thought it would be nicer for the rest of my plans.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Now I’m even more intrigued.”

“Let’s hang out for awhile.” She gestured her head in Sophie’s direction, “I’ll feed her something before she goes down for the night, and then you and I will have a late dinner. I went grocery shopping while you were at the salon.”

“You’re cooking for me twice today?”

“It’s your birthday.”

“Any other plans?”

“Of course, mister. But you’ll have to wait.” 

**********************

Jeff discovered that not only could Annie make a damn good stir-fry and a mean soufflé (Was she _trying_ to kill him today? They already had birthday cake that afternoon. And the pancakes.), but she also have a pretty nice massage.

“Is this too cheesy?”

“Huh?” Jeff replied sleepily as Annie sat on his back rubbing oil into his shoulders. They were sprawled out on his living room floor, a bunch of pillows providing cushioning for Jeff’s birthday massage. Jeff was mostly unclothed with the exception of his Paul Smiths (blue stripes).

“The massage. Too cliché?”

“Hell no. This is one of your best ideas ever. And you have great ideas.”

Annie smiled as she reflected on the fact that the massage was not only a present for Jeff but also for her. After all, she didn’t mind moving her hands over his muscles.

It was more-than-kind-of turning her on.

She bent down near him and whispered in his ear, “And we can have sexy time in a little bit. I put Sophie down in your study.”

“Won’t she get upset if she wakes up in there?”

“We’ll see how she does. And I can always check on her later.”

Jeff mumbled into the pillow, “Could be a trial run for the crib idea. Wait, sorry… I’m not supposed to mention that.”

“Jeeeffff….”

“Sorry, I’m being an ass. It’s my birthday. Forgive me?”

“Yes.” She placed a kiss near his ear as she continued to work his shoulder blades.

After the massage was finished, Jeff remained on his stomach, dozing slightly as Annie placed herself to his side.

“Were the candles too much?”

“Not at all. I feel properly _romanced_.”

She laughed, perhaps with some relief. “Oh good.”

“And totally distracted from our temporary even more scandalous age difference.”

“Very good.”

Jeff rolled onto his side and looked at her intently. “Thank you for everything today.   It was amazing.” He gave her a quick kiss.

Annie let out a little squeak and smiled.

Jeff looked down for a moment. He then inhaled sharply before stating, “I wanted to give you something.”

“Give _me_ something? It’s _your_ birthday.”

He moved his eyes to the side and sighed. “Well it’s no _Imperial Purple_ …”

“I thought we weren’t celebrating our anniversary.”

“We’re not. It’s a practical gift.”

“Now I’m really curious.”

Jeff sat up and grabbed his jeans, which were draped over the couch. He fished into one of the pockets, frowned slightly, and then tried the other pocket.

Annie eyes may have lingered on his abs.

“Here.” He handed her a small envelope.

“What is this?”’

“Open it.”

She began to slowly move her fingernail against the seam.

“Jesus, Annie. Just tear it.”

“Okay.” She ripped open the envelope and then dumped a silver key into the palm of her hand.

Her eyes widened as she stared at it. She glanced up to catch Jeff watching her with an almost fearful expression.

She asked softly, “What is this?”

“It’s a key to my apartment.” His voice may have cracked slightly.

“Eeek.”

He interjected, speaking quickly, “It’s just a key. So you can get in whenever you need to. Or if I lock myself out or something. My mom has a key, but she lives all the way in Denver, so it would really help me out if you had one too. And also if I’m not around for some reason and you and the baby hobbit need to get out of that hellhole you live in for day or afternoon, or do laundry or something, you can come by here. It’s not a problem.”

Annie remarked softly as she felt a tear form in her eye, “You gave this to me on our anniversary.”

“It’s unrelated. I thought of it because you had to borrow my key today while I was out with Sophie anyway, so…”

Her eyes shot up to his. “When did you have time to get a copy made?”

“Hm?”

“You obviously didn’t have a copy earlier or you would have lent it to me instead of giving me your own key. So when did you have a chance today to make a copy? We’ve been together ever since we met up at Rusty’s.”

Jeff cleared his throat. “Okay, umm….”

She stared at the key and whispered, “You were going to give this to me anyway. It wasn’t just because I needed to borrow your key today.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well, maybe.”

“But why not just give it to me this morning then?”

He let out a long sigh, “I didn’t want it to be weird. You caught me off guard with the salon thing, and I didn’t want us to just go our separate ways and have it be awkward. We didn’t have time to discuss it.”

“But it’s even weirder now. Versus if you had just given it to me this morning and let me keep it.”

“Ugh.” Jeff threw himself down on the pillows, smooshing his face down.

Annie watched his anguish and felt a fluttering in her chest.

She paused before venturing, “Let me guess… You already had it in the envelope? And you had it set in your mind you were going to give it to me tonight?”

Jeff mumbled, “Maybe.”

“Jeff, it’s okay.”

He lifted himself up slightly and looked at her tentatively. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll accept it then?”

“Of course, dummy.” She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips.

He scowled. “Just don’t rob me.”

“You _trust_ me.” She grinned as she grabbed her purse, which was lying next to the couch. She fished out her keys and began carefully placing the key on her keychain.

He propped himself on his side and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s those darn eyes.”

Jeff didn’t mention to Annie he had never before given a woman he was dating a key to his place. If he were honest with himself, the idea kind of freaked part of him out.   At the same time, the rest of him really wanted Annie to have it. He figured it didn’t have to be a big deal. It was for practical reasons. And the fact that he gave it to her on their sixth month anniversary was merely a coincidence. 

*********************

They eventually managed to find their way into his bedroom, content in the knowledge that Sophie was sleeping in the study.   Jeff crossed his fingers that the baby hobbit wouldn’t figure out where she was and that it wasn’t _nap time_ and interrupt them.

“What’s this?” Jeff’s hands skimmed over something _silky_ underneath Annie’s skirt.

She smiled coyly. “It’s just a little something I picked up the other day.”

He felt his smile broaden, realizing his growing willingness to dampen his habitual sarcasm. That of course shouldn’t come as a surprise to him, he supposed. After all, he was a sucker for luxurious fabrics.

“Can I see it?”

Annie lifted her head up from the pillow and kissed him slowly before she responded, “You _have_ been very good today. You even allowed your friends to be nice to you.”

“That’s right. I’ve been extremely obedient.”

“Admit it, you enjoyed yourself.”

“Can I see it?”

Annie smiled and then rolled her eyes. She began to shimmy out of her dress.

He assisted her in gently tossing it to the floor. He leaned back to take in the view of her in a silky light blue slip, or probably more accurately, some sort of negligee.

“Do you like it?”

“Oh yes.”

She laughed and pulled him back to her.

“So many presents today,” he mumbled in between kisses.

“See what you get when you allow people to celebrate your birthday?”

“I’m a believer.” He began to trace kisses down her neck.

They made out slowly, Jeff taking his time to feel Annie’s new garment.   He shed his own clothes bit by bit during breathing breaks before coming back in for more Annie kisses.

_Annie kisses are the best kind of kisses. Who knew Greendale would teach me something after all?_

Annie shared Jeff’s sentiments, thoroughly savoring the sensations of his scruff as he pressed against her face, neck, and eventually, lower areas.

She realized she was going to have to put up with some of his stubble burn. But she sighed into his movements, figuring it was worth it.

_Stupid handsome birthday hobo._

She moved her hands through his literal bed head and then glanced down to watch him. She gasped as he moved his tongue against her. “Do you want me to take this off now?”

He glanced up to catch his breath and then murmured, “Not yet.” He moved his hands against the fabric and then continued providing his attentions. He figured she deserved it after all the thought she put in to the day.

She gasped again and eventually let go.

She continued to jolt slightly as Jeff curled up at her side. She turned to face him, and he assisted her in carefully removing her slip.

“Goddamn you’re beautiful.”

“So are you.”

He smirked. “I try.”

She rolled on top of him, and he let her have the freedom to control their pacing. To both of their delight, they were in sync regarding this. They moved more slowly than they had Thursday night after they had exchanged their _I love yous_. That evening had been a feverish release of built-up conspiracy tension. And last night they had fallen asleep watching a movie before Jeff awoke and carried her to bed.

Tonight they continued to kiss slowly and deeply, moving back and forth as their bodies melded together. They continued to hold each other’s gazes, even as they eventually increased their friction.

As Annie curled up in Jeff’s arms afterward, she smiled into his chest.

“What is it?”

She gave him a kiss on one of his pecs and laughed. “I can’t feel my legs again.”

He let out a low rambling laugh.

Annie shifted her body in his arms, conscious that both of them were pretty sweaty. She grabbed the top sheet crumpled nearby and wiped off his chest.

“I’m going to stick to you.”

“Good. Then we could do it all the time.”

“Jeff!” She slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“I’m liking this freer sex thing, by the way. I congratulate you on suggesting it.”

“That’s because I have good ideas. You said so yourself earlier.”

“I should never doubt you.”

She looked at him apologetically. “Actually, I don’t know about that. I’ve been thinking a lot today about some things. I might have been wrong about something.”

He raised his eyebrows and turned to look at her. “And what was that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find out what Annie thinks she was wrong about in the next chapter. Sorry, this wasn’t intended to be a cliffhanger. It just made sense to cut it here. :)


	21. Dorie’s Thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff visit Dorie. And Sophie gains a grandma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some angst. Some fluff.

Annie reached over to check on a sleeping Sophie.   She placed a kiss on her head and then pulled the blanket up over her.

She heard Jeff enter the room and felt him stand beside her. It was hard to miss a giant.

He whispered, “Is she okay?”

“Um hum. She seems to like it.”

He reached over and touched the blanket, pulling it up slightly so that it was under Sophie’s arms. “Well it’s the exact same kind as you have at home. We even matched the bedding pretty closely.”

“I know. But still. She’s in _here_.” Annie gestured around Jeff’s study. “I was worried she might be upset.”

“She’s used to napping in here.”

“True. I guess we’ll see how she does during the night.”

“I’m not a sadist, Annie. If she freaks out we can consider moving this thing into my bedroom.”

She turned to look at him warily. “You would?”

“I’d prefer not to, but if it means you guys stay over here more often and I can avoid Dildopolis, then yeah.”

“Thanos is giving you a discount.”

“It’s not only about the money. Your bed is smaller than mine.”

“But you got me those luxurious sheets.” She glanced up at him, smiling coyly.

He smirked. “I’m still more comfortable in my own bed. And admit it, you like it too. For being a midget I marvel at the way you stretch out when given the room.”

Annie rolled her eyes as she pressed the side of her head against his chest. “We should let her get some sleep.”

They quietly left the room and made their way to the living room.

Annie turned to him as she sat cross-legged on the couch. “Thank you for this.”

“I’m the one who suggested it, remember? You’re the one who felt it was too much _pressure_ or whatever you called it during that fiasco with the Dean.” Jeff sat down next to her with a sigh.

Annie looked at him and shook her head. “I just wanted to make sure we were _on the same page_.”

Jeff draped an arm over the back of the couch. “Yeah, I know, with the _I love yous._ Yada yada yada.”

She smacked his arm. “Just because we said that doesn’t mean things are going to drastically change, remember? I just realized I was being stupid about the crib. You were right. Sophie will be more comfortable now.”

“Yeah, _pages_ are important, just like the _para somethings_ ,” he mumbled as he scooted closer to her and began to kiss her neck.

She pushed him back and smirked. “Just because you have a crib here doesn’t mean we’re staying here all the time. You can still come over to my place. Sometimes I prefer that if I have to go to work the next day since it’s closer. And sometimes we should have nights _apart_.”

“Um hum.” He reached in to place another kiss on her neck, gently moving her hair to the side.

Annie began to reflect again on something that was gnawing at her. She wondered again at the nature of Jeff’s relationship with Michelle, and how it compared to their situation. She had heard some mumblings from the Dean about what he knew when Jeff and Michelle had filled out their “Greendale Relationship” paperwork. And what he told her initially surprised Annie. But as Annie was getting to know Jeff, she was realizing his public detached and sarcastic demeanor was likely a cover for an intense desire for closeness.

Well, she had to admit even in private he remained sarcastic. But she’d hardly call him _detached_.

As he continued to kiss her neck, Annie remarked, “I know you and Michelle spent every night together.”

He mumbled, “And so did you and the hippie.”

She moved him back again and looked at him. “We didn’t. You keep thinking that, but that’s far from the truth. I need space.”

He shrugged before kissing her shoulder. “Sure. I like my alone time too.”

She sighed. “I’m never alone, Jeff. But yeah, sometimes I like to just be in my apartment while she’s sleeping. I can get so much more done.”

“Than when you’re with me?”

“Duh. Obviously.”

“You can do stuff here, you know. Seriously. If you’re ever over here and want me to leave you alone, I can do that. I have a television in my room. You can hang out in here and do your _stuff._ ”

Annie smiled slightly. “Thank you. Maybe I’ll take you up on that sometimes. But really, I like my place.”

“It’s _Dildopolis_.” He rolled his eyes.

“It’s mine. And I’m proud of it.” 

*******************

Thanksgiving came soon enough, and Jeff, Annie, and Sophie arrived at Dorie’s place the Wednesday evening after classes let out.

Jeff explained to Annie that his aunt usually celebrated with her husband’s family back in the Midwest, and his cousin Holly spent the holiday with her husband’s family. Which left Dorie and Jeff by themselves most Thanksgivings.   Occasionally Maybelle would stop by for an hour or so before she declared Thanksgiving wasn’t really her kind of holiday and shuffled back home.

Jeff was aware with some sense of unease that this was the first Thanksgiving he had ever brought anyone home with him. Not even Ian ever crossed Dorie’s threshold on the holiday. Not that Dorie hadn’t invited him of course, but he maintained Thanksgiving was strictly an American holiday and he didn’t see much point in it. Jeff was pretty sure the real reason was the local bar had cranberry flavored two-for-one vodka shots and beer specials. And perhaps the glares Jeff would give him when Dorie would suggest he come over were particularly strong. There was no way Jeff was going to spend a day or two with his mother and Ian Duncan. That sounded like a version of hell.

As they entered the house, Dorie had, as was becoming her custom, embraced them quickly before running off with Sophie. Jeff rolled his eyes as he plopped their bags on the ground. He then turned around and went back to the car to get their remaining things. After all, they were staying until Saturday at Dorie and Annie’s mutual insistence.

Jeff started to wonder if he could find a way to sneak away during some of this. He could only talk to his mom for so long before he wanted to climb the walls.

As he reentered the house with Hank at his heels, he remembered another reason he usually went a little stir crazy in his mom’s house.

Something furry hopped over his foot. He cringed.

“Mom! You left the rabbits out!”

Dorie called out, “Oh I figured it was okay now. Sophie should get used to them. I told Annie in advance I was going to let them out, by the way.”

Jeff’s eyes grew wide as he rounded the corner and spied Annie and Dorie sitting on the couch while Sophie sat on Dorie’s lap. He looked at Annie and shook his head.

Annie shrugged with a smile. “She says they’re litter box trained. And since it’s not a crowded house, it won’t be too chaotic. Aren’t they cute?” She watched with amusement as bunny number two scurried past Hank.

There was a low woof.

Jeff closed his eyes for a moment before slowly sitting down in a chair. He took two deep breaths.

Hank wandered over and sat by Jeff so that he could pet him.

“I almost forgot you had them. You’ve been keeping them in the garage.” Jeff ran his hands through Hank’s ears.

Dorie nodded as she turned her gaze back to Sophie. “Only when Sophie's here. And Christmas. I’d hate to have someone step on them. That’s a big risk when there’s a houseful of people.”

Sophie let out a squeal of delight as she watched one of the rabbits bound across the room.

Jeff remarked irritably, “I’m sure they’d survive. Plus most people seem to avoid stepping on the cats.” Jeff eyed bunny number one as he chewed on the baseboard. He paused in thought before he asked, “What if they hurt her?”

Dorie shook her head and eyed Jeff incredulously. “You know perfectly well Horace and Huntley are well-behaved. And they’re actually very skittish, being prey animals. The real thing to worry about is that she might try to grab them and hurt _them,_ which is why I think they should be introduced now. We can teach her to respect them.”

“I don’t think the munchkin respects many things. She tried to eat a pillow yesterday.”

“Well then she and the bunnies have something in common.”

“Mom!”

Houston, one of the cats, slinked behind Jeff’s head. 

*********************

After dinner they put Sophie down and chatted for a bit before Annie excused herself to do some schoolwork. Jeff sighed and did his best to convince her to remain with them, but she insisted saying she wanted to be able to enjoy herself the rest of the long weekend. She gave him a kiss and went into the den.

Jeff sat there with his mom drinking decaf coffee as she droned on about some gossip Maybelle had told her the other day.   He wasn’t really listening.

“So then I told him of course I wouldn’t sleep with him,” Dorie added.

Jeff’s eyes shot up.

“Mom! What the _hell_?”

“Oh that got your attention. You’ve been off somewhere else.”

Jeff cringed. “You got me. Ha ha.” He then looked at her skeptically, “ _Ha ha,_ right?”

She’s eyes twinkled. “You know perfectly well I slept with him.”

Jeff sat staring at her for about twenty seconds. Without blinking.

Dorie scowled as she finally blinked. “Fine. You’re no fun.”

“Mom!”

She smirked and then eyed him curiously. “So what shall we talk about? Maybe you could tell me about school.”

Jeff shrugged. “Nothing to say. It’s fine.”

“Annie’s doing school work. You don’t have any homework to do?”

“She’s a perfectionist. I’ll pull it out Sunday evening.”

Dorie nodded and took a sip of her coffee before remarking, “I see. You never were that studious. And I wouldn’t say it was because you _weren’t_ a perfectionist. I think it was because you _were_.”

“Huh?” He raised his eyebrows slightly. He continued to cup his mug tightly.

“You never wanted to try that hard. That way when you failed you could just say you didn’t put in the effort.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Ian.” He began turning the mug around, back and forth as he started at it.

“I’ve always thought it, Jeffrey. Long before Ian. But yes, if you must know, he is of the same opinion.”

Jeff let out a long sigh. “Whatever.”

“How are things with you and Annie?”

He nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on his mug. “Good.”

“Ian seems to think you two have been getting cozier lately. Is that true?”

Jeff scowled. “He’s a busy body.”

“Well _you_ don’t talk to me about it. How else am I supposed to gather information?” Dorie kept her gaze fixed on him, waiting for him to resume eye contact.

Jeff rolled his eyes.

“I’m just pleased you and Annie are getting along. She’s very sweet.”

“Um hum.” He continued to stare into his mug as if something incredibly interesting were in it.

“And Sophie is just precious.”

“Um hum.”

“You’re doing a good job with her. I’ve been watching you two.”

His eyes shot up quickly to meet hers before he looked right back down. “The hell you say.”

Dorie nodded her head slightly in a knowing way. “You’re handling her very nicely. That child adores you.”

He shrugged as he stilled his mug. “We get along okay.”

“It’s good you’ve been embracing her. She’s an important part of Annie’s life. And if you’re going to be with Annie then having a good relationship with Sophie is necessary.”

He frowned, continuing to hunch over his mug. “I know that. I’m actually trying, you know. I’m not even being a _perfectionist_ about it.”

“I’m glad you’re not scared off by her. I’ve always thought you’d make a good father. And I can see I’m right.” She watched him intently for signs of a reaction.

Jeff closed his eyes and leaned further over his coffee cup. “I’m not her _father_.”

“But you’re essentially functioning in that role?”

“I’m just trying to keep her alive.” He opened his eyes and stared off at the far wall.

“And that’s what fathers do. It suits you.”

He sighed as he finally made eye contact with her. “Mom. I’d hardly call me _father_ material. After all, _I_ wouldn’t know anything about any of that.”

Dorie smiled sadly. “You’re thinking about your own father?”

Jeff looked down and shook his head. “Why would I think about that loser?”

She watched him with increasing sadness, wiping a tear from her eye as she uttered, “I’m sorry, dear. I wish I could have given you a better one. You certainly deserved to be treated better than Bill ever was capable of.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does. I really hope you don’t take what he did, him leaving, as a reflection on you. It was his problem.” She wiped another tear away.

Jeff mumbled, “He had a lot of problems.”

Dorie nodded slowly. “He did.”

“I remember,” Jeff whispered.

“Hm?”

He cleared his throat and spoke slightly louder, “I remember. We never talk about it. The things he used to do to you.” He looked up and held her gaze.

Dorie’s eyes widened. She clenched her jaw for a moment before stating evenly, “Jeffrey, that’s in the past.”

Jeff kept his eyes on her. “It’s good he left. I didn’t see it that way for a while. Part of me wanted him to stay. I was upset he left us. But then the rest of me was really angry and overall relieved when he took off.”

“I can understand that.” She placed her coffee cup on the side table and clasped her hands together on her lap.

“And I think it was a few years before I was fairly convinced he wasn’t coming back.”

“Years?”

Jeff nodded slowly. He began glancing around the room as he said, “I kept watching the door. I kept shining my flashlight down here. I’d get up at night. To make sure he wasn’t going to come back and hurt you.”

Dorie voice began to tremble, “I am so sorry. I should have taken you and left him long before any of that.”

He returned his eyes to hers. “It’s not your fault. It’s _his_ fault.”

She gulped and then ventured hesitantly, “Do you remember what he used to do to you?”

Jeff suddenly paled and stared off at the wall. “Belittle me, insult me, leave me at the zoo….”

“And?” She leaned her arm on her chair, cradling her head on her hand as she observed him.

His eyes shot back to hers once again as he scowled. “This would be a good time for you to allow me my one drink.”

“Please, Jeffrey, I think we should talk about this. Let’s not…”

He leaned back in his chair and grit his teeth. “Mom. I _am_ talking about it, okay? I just don’t think I can talk about it with _you_. I don’t want you to feel even more guilty.”

She remarked softly, “I’m sorry I failed you.”

He stated adamantly, “Again, that’s not your fault. I have no use for Bill Winger. He’s a raging asshole and I hope fate’s caught up with him by now.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t replace him with someone better. You deserved a good father.”

“Yeah, well, not everyone gets a father. I’m one of them. Again, not your fault.”

“I should have picked my boyfriends more carefully.”

Jeff shrugged. “Hey, you were young and Bill did a number on you, didn’t he? I’m just glad you didn’t marry any of them.” His eyes abruptly softened as he added, “And I’m glad you’re okay now.”

Dorie nodded sadly. “Thank you. It means a lot to me. And seeing you doing so well, that means a lot to me too. Makes me feel that despite what I put you through you turned out to be someone I’m proud to call my son.”

Jeff postured stiffened. “You know that’s not true. The lies….”

She interjected, “Are in the past. We’re okay now. Let’s not have a repeat of last Thanksgiving. We don’t need to fight, Jeffrey. I was upset last year, but I forgive you. I understand.”

“Um hum.”

“And again, the way you are with Sophie, I know you’re nothing like your father. At all. She’s a lucky little girl to have you in her life.”

“Mom….”

“She is.”

Jeff leaned his head back on the furniture and closed his eyes. “I don’t know. What if I can’t do it?”

“You’re already doing it. Just keep doing it.”

“Having no father is better for a kid than having a crappy one.”

“Dear, now you’re selling yourself short.”

His eyes popped open and he sat up straight, staring at her. “Last Thanksgiving you told me you’ve, and I quote because I have an _excellent_ memory, ‘built up my ego to an unhealthy degree.’ Why would I possibly trust your opinion of me in this area?”

Dorie gasped, “Jeffrey! You know I didn’t mean that.”

He frowned. “I’m going to get my one drink. Excuse me.” He abruptly stood up and made his way toward the kitchen.

Annie quickly moved away from her snooping place in the hallway and scurried back to the den. She closed the door and sat in a chair. She felt the tears well up in her eyes as she reflected on what she had overheard, which had likely been most of their conversation regarding Jeff’s father.

There was so much she didn’t really know. And she usually glossed right over it when Jeff showed hesitancy in speaking about it. _And how could he still not think he was good for Sophie?_

She got up and made her way into the living room. She spotted Jeff sitting across from his mother, drinking a beer.

“Goddamn it mom, this is warm.”

Dorie was watching him carefully. “That’s because I keep it in the garage. Why would I keep it in the fridge if I don’t drink?”

Annie cleared her throat and asked, “Jeff, may I talk to you?”

Jeff’s eyes rose as she spied Annie standing there. Dorie cast a weary smile over to her.

His tone softened as he responded, “Sure, um, privately?”

“Yes, please come with me.” She motioned for him to follow as she walked out of the room.

He followed her into the den. “What’s up?”

Annie turned to face him and stared at his drink.

“Please put the beer down.”

“Ooookay.” He shrugged as he placed it on the desk.

She walked over to him and gave him a hug.

He paused to inhale the scent of her hair before asking, “What’s this for?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

She looked up at him while they continued the embrace. She stated softly, “I may have overheard some of the stuff you were talking to your mom about. The stuff about your dad.”

“Annie…”

She moved her head back into his chest. “I was about to enter the room and then I heard you two. I didn’t want to interrupt, but then I couldn’t get myself to leave. We never talk about it. About your dad.”

Jeff placed a kiss on her head. “That’s because there’s not much to say. Nothing constructive at any rate. You already know he wasn’t a good guy.”

She looked up at him. “But I don’t know the details. You can talk to me about him.”

He smiled wearily. “Thanks, but I don’t think you really want to know.”

“That’s so unfair. Why wouldn’t I want to know? I care about you.” She felt her voice catch on the last statement.

He nodded thoughtfully before explaining, “Because you have enough on your plate. And you have your own asshole to deal with. And you have your own issues with your own parents to live with. I’m not going to put that on you.”

She hugged him tighter for a moment. “It wouldn’t be burdening me, Jeff. It might be helpful for me to know some things. Especially when you freak out about how you’re relating to Sophie. I might be able to more understand the context of what you’re saying.”

“Annie…”

“And I’m not your mom. You don’t need to protect me. Especially from knowing the bad things that have happened to you.”

Jeff kissed the top of her head again and let his mouth linger there.

Annie felt the pressure of his lips and wondered why he wasn’t speaking. She could feel the familiar rapid beatings of his heart. And then she noticed his whole chest tightened in almost a spasm. She attempted to raise her head, but he gently but firmly wouldn’t let her.

He continued to hold her in a hug for almost a full minute before easing his grasp.

He gulped as he uttered, “Maybe some other time, though? Not now, not Thanksgiving weekend.”

“Okay.”

That night, Jeff openly spent the night with Annie in his old bedroom. Dorie didn’t bat an eye and refrained from any further Thanksgiving talk about Bill Winger. 

****************************

Thanksgiving itself was a more pleasant affair compared to the previous evening. As Annie and Dorie cleared some plates from the table, Jeff scooped up Sophie and hauled her off to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Annie smiled broadly as she watched them leave the room. “He’s always trying to make her less sticky. I told him it’s kinda pointless after a certain point.”

Dorie chuckled. “He doesn’t do sticky.”

“You should have seen her go for the cake again on his birthday last weekend. I only allowed her to have one very small piece of course. Jeff wasn’t too happy about that.”

“He’ll have to loosen up a bit.”

“I think he did, that’s what’s so funny. He held back every urge he had to take that piece of cake away from her. He says it’s the sugar but I’m fairly certain it’s mainly about the messiness.”

Dorie rolled her eyes.

They placed some dishes in the sink and Annie took out the dish soap in an effort to soak some of them during dessert time.

Dorie handed her another plate. She then cleared her throat before asking, “How is he doing today?”

Annie shrugged. “He’s fine.”

Dorie leaned one hand on the counter. “Annie dear, I’m sorry to say this, but I overheard you two last night.”

Annie’s eyes widened as she let out a little squeak. She then hastily exclaimed, “We didn’t _do anything_ in his old bedroom!”

Annie quickly scanned her mind for things Dorie might have overheard. She flashed back to some cuddling, with perhaps a fair degree of kissing. And maybe a slight make out, but it was strictly hands-over-clothes, and they had stopped before things became too heated. After all, they had been in his childhood bedroom with Sophie present and his _mother_ down the hall.

Dorie let out a loud prolonged sigh. “Now you sound like _my son_. That’s not what I was referring to. What I meant was I may have heard what you two talked about in the den.”

Annie’s posture relaxed before she tensed again. “You were spying on us?”

Dorie nodded smugly. “So were you.”

They looked at each other for some moments before Dorie added, “Sometimes I think you remind him of me.”

Annie cringed.

Dorie asked, “Is he okay?”

“He’s better today. A lot better.”

“Is he still going to therapy?”

“Yes.”

"Good.”

 Suddenly they heard the clomps of Jeff’s steps as he made his way back into the room with Sophie in his arms.

“The sticky hobbit is now significantly less sticky.”

Sophie smiled as she clung to Jeff’s shoulder. She then rested her head near his neck and looked at Annie and Dorie.

Dorie smiled. “She looks pretty happy to me being less sticky, Jeffrey. Good job.”

“Thanks mom.” He may have blushed just a little.

Dorie walked over and opened her arms. “Come here, sweetheart. Come to Grandma Dorie.”

Jeff’s eyes widened. “Mom!”

Annie smiled guiltily as she exchanged looks with a panicked Jeff. She shrugged and mouthed silently to him, “ _What?”_

Sophie leaned away from Jeff and reached toward Dorie. _“Gee Gee!”_

Dorie grinned as she took Sophie from Jeff. She kissed Sophie on the cheek. “Aren’t you a smart girl? Do I get my own name now? I feel so special.”

Sophie giggled as she hugged Dorie tightly.

“Mom!”

Dorie continued staring at Sophie in amazement, clearly tickled. “Didn’t you hear her? She called me _grandma_.”

Jeff pursed his lips. “She called you ‘Gee Gee,’ and at any rate, what’s this with you trying to teach her to call you _grandma_?”

Annie broke in, “Jeff, let it go. Your mom’s been doing that for a long time, way before you and I were together. She’s been trying to be a surrogate grandma to Sophie. Since Sophie doesn’t have one.”

Dorie nodded, continuing to smiled at Sophie as she remarked, “Every child should have a grandmother. If I had stayed in touch with my own mother, you would have had one Jeffrey. Now my own mother wasn’t a peach, so she likely wouldn’t have been the nicest grandmother….”

“Mom!”

She uttered in a sing-songy voice, “And Annie’s mother as you know isn’t in the picture.”

Jeff shot a glance at Annie. He gulped, all of a sudden feeling like a jackass. Yet again.

He stated evenly, “Right. She doesn’t have a grandmother.”

Annie walked over to Jeff and lightly touched his arm. “Can you please not be a jerk about this and let your mom spoil her? Will you do that for _Sophie_?”

Jeff closed his eyes and sighed.   “I’m sorry. Christ.”

At that moment, Annie’s phone buzzed on the counter. She turned to pick it up, frowning in puzzlement when she looked at the display.

“Hmm….it’s Britta.”

Jeff sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Whoop dee do.”

Annie’s eyes shot up to him. “I’m going to take this.”

“Fine.”

She answered her phone and left the room. 

***************************

After they finished Thanksgiving dessert, Jeff helped Annie clear the table, and his mom ran off with Sophie.

He eyed her tentatively. “I’m sorry about earlier. I don’t care if Sophie calls my mom ‘Gee Gee.’

Annie murmured, “It’s fine. I can appreciate that might have caught you off guard.”

He grabbed a plate from her and placed it on the counter. He remarked cockily, “Thing is, my mom would have been a pretty awesome grandmother. And since I never gave her any grandchildren, Sophie’s doing me a big favor.”

Annie turned to face him, placing one hand on her hip. She narrowed her eyes. “Stop doing that.”

He stilled but didn’t look at her. “Doing what?”

“It’s Thanksgiving, Jeff. I’m _thankful_ that your mom is a part of our lives. And I don’t think we should over think the biology or lack of biology of it all.”

He closed his eyes. “Christ.”

“Could you please refrain from talking about Sophie in terms of doing favors for you with your mom? Can you please just try to accept that your mom and I are friends? We’ve been friends before I started dating you. And she’s been like a mom to me. And she’s been a grandmother to Sophie. And I don’t want to cheapen that.”

Jeff turned, took a step forward, and then put his arms around her. “For the trillionth time this weekend, I’m sorry. You’re right. Sophie deserves a grandmother. And hey, if everyone’s happy, it’s cool.”

“But you’re not happy about it.”

He took a deep breath before he answered, “Actually, it’s fine. Really.”

Annie looked up and watched his face. She felt a drop in her stomach. She smiled weakly.   “It’s important to me that Sophie has a grandparent. My Bubbe was the only reliable one who got me through my childhood.”

“I know. I was being an ass.”

“You’re not an ass, Jeff. And thank you for allowing us to come to Thanksgiving with you. It’s much better than my Thanksgiving at Shirley’s last year, trust me.”

He smirked as he pulled her in tighter hug. “I hope so, even with me being an ass.”

“Even with that.”

He laughed.

Annie reflected as she leaned into his chest about how Jeff was often confusing. She wished she could enter his head. First he kept bringing up the idea of a crib, then he gave her a key, and now he became irritable with the idea of his mom being Sophie’s grandmother figure.

Annie sighed, figuring it would all settle itself out. And perhaps they didn’t need to analyze it at present. She was trying to take her own advice and not over think things.

Jeff kissed her head and then mumbled into her hair, “Hey, why was Britta calling earlier anyway?”

Annie sighed into his chest. “She may have been a little drunk. She said something about two-for-one cranberry vodka shots. And some other nonsense. Basically, I think she just needed to run something past me.”

Jeff frowned, feeling that two-for-one cranberry vodka shots sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“Dare I ask what that was?”

“You don’t want to know. Hopefully I talked her out of doing something stupid.” 

***************************

Dorie watched as Jeff pretended to chase Sophie through the living room. Sophie turned to look over her shoulder and laughed before she stumbled toward the ottoman. She fell forward as a rabbit jumped across her path.

Jeff lunged forward and picked up a crying Sophie. “You’re okay, munchkin.”

He turned to his mom and remarked irritably, “ _See?_ I told you.”

Dorie responded, “Toddlers fall all the time, Jeffrey. If it hadn’t been for Horace she would have likely tripped over that kangaroo over there.” She gestured toward Ruthie.

“Yeah, but…”

“You’ve seen her fall countless times by now, I’m sure. She’ll learn and get better at walking. You’ll see.”

He squinted before asking, “Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to teach me something?”

“Because I am, dear. I don’t expect you to know these things.”

Jeff placed a now consoled Sophie back on the floor. He sat down and reached for Ruthie, placing her in front of Sophie.

Dorie walked over and plopped down on the floor next to him.

Jeff frowned in thought for a moment before stating, “But Annie seems to know what to do with her. And what to expect of her.”

“So you think there’s something wrong with you that you _don’t_ instinctively know?”

He avoided her gaze as he entertained Sophie with the Kangaroo, making various supposedly kangaroo-like movements. “I dunno. Maybe. I might be missing that chip or something.”

Dorie smiled as she watched Sophie interact with the kangaroo, clearly enraptured. “If we want to talk about instinct, I think you’ve got some good hunches. You seem to know what to do to calm her down, for instance.”

“I couldn’t always do that. I watched Annie.” He made more hopping motions with Ruthie.

“And then you did it. And I notice you have your own way of doing it. After all, Sophie responds differently to you than she does to her mother. Children are like that. They expect different things from different people.”

“Hmmm.”

“And you and Sophie have a nice little rapport going on. I think she likes to play with you. At the same time, she goes to you for comfort if her mother’s not in the room.”

“So I’m backup.”

“You’ll always kind of be backup. Again, that’s just how kids are at her age. But I’m fairly confident you’re her second favorite person in the entire world.”

Jeff stared off as he absentmindedly wiggled Ruthie. Sophie let out a squeal and grabbed the kangaroo, hauling it to her mouth. She began to suck on one of the ears.

Jeff didn’t appear to notice as he asked in a low voice, “But how does Annie _know_?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Never mind.” 

***************************

Jeff placed Sophie gingerly in the crib. He kissed her forehead and pulled up her blanket, careful to mimic the movements he always saw Annie make. He had only really put Sophie down a couple times by himself, and once she was sick so he wasn’t sure if that counted.

He stopped to watch her as she moved her arms up and stretched. She rested her hands next to her head.

He frowned, wondering what he should do about that situation. _Am I supposed to move them back?_

He heard Annie enter the room.

She came up to him and whispered, “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. She’s sleeping. But she just stretched out for a second there and now she’s positioned all funny.”

Annie smiled as she looked into the crib. “Awwww…she’s all relaxed.”

“Her arms are up. Should I put them back down? Or maybe you should do it. I”ll probably just wake her up.”

Annie turned to look at him. “Don’t be a dummy. She’s fine. She can sleep like that.”

“Are you sure?”

“That means she’s feeling safe. She’s completely unguarded.”

“Safe?”

“She trusts that you’ll be here to ward off all the scary monsters that might try to eat her.”

He let out a quick low laugh. “Cute, Annie.”

“She’s content. Thank you for getting her to fall asleep. It gave me a chance to catch up with your mom.”

“No problem.”

“And thank you for keeping her safe. I know I told you that once before, but I want you to know that I mean it.”

They watched Sophie for a few moments in silence. Annie then took Jeff’s hand and led him out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note there is a supplemental chapter, “Cranberry Vodka Shots,” which covers Britta and Duncan’s Thanksgiving. It was posted yesterday. Not absolutely necessary reading for following this story, of course. Merely for those interested in that plotline.


	22. The Perry Technique

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Britta is a good observer of other people. Emphasis on other. And she does not resort to subtle methods.

Jeff groaned as he heard the loud pounding on his apartment door.

“Goddammit,” he mumbled into the back of Annie’s neck.

He felt Annie stir against him, stretching slightly.

“Jeeeff…”

She flipped over to face him, her eyes remaining closed while she nuzzled her nose into his bare chest.

He groaned again. “Maybe they’ll go away.”

Annie’s eyes popped open. “Is someone out there? Where’s Sophie?”

“It’s coming from the front door. Not _inside_. Probably someone got the wrong apartment. I’m sure they’ll just….”

Jeff’s phone buzzed on the bedside table. He disentangled himself from Annie and grabbed it.

“It’s someone you know?”

“Damn it. It’s Ian. No, wait. This makes no sense.”

“Is he outside?”

“I think so. This text is from his phone, but it’s Britta. She says they need to get in.”

Annie bolted upright and began pulling on one of Jeff’s t-shirts she kept near the bed in case she needed to get up to attend to Sophie during the night.

Jeff looked at her with a puzzled expression. “What are you doing? I’ll go tell them to go away. And for the life of me I can’t figure out why they’re together. That’s weird.” He sat up further and began to roll his head from shoulder to shoulder.

Annie started to search through the sheets as she remarked, “You’re not that observant, Jeff. I’ll help you with this. Where are my panties?”

Jeff mumbled absentmindedly, “Somewhere.”

“Did you take them again? I thought that was a one time thing.”

“Hm?” He stood up and pulled on his flannel pajama bottoms. He then threw a grey t-shirt over his head. “I’ll handle this. Stay here.”

“They’re going to wake up Sophie.”

“I’ll get rid of them.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead.

He slipped out of the bedroom and jogged to the front door as the pounding restarted and then intensified. He pulled it open to find Britta standing there with an inebriated Ian Duncan hanging off her shoulders.

She gasped, “Oh thank god. I was beginning to think you were at Annie’s. Help me with him.”

Jeff’s eyes widened as he stared at the sight of Ian Duncan. He appeared to be clinging to Britta for dear life and his tie was askew and partially undone. He was wearing a sweater vest and the dress shirt underneath was half hanging out below. His pants appeared to be stained in splotches.

“Heeellooo, Jeeefreey. Pleeesed to seee youuu.”

“You, too, Dudley Moore.”

Jeff stepped back to allow them entry.

Britta scowled at him and stared with dagger eyes. “Seriously? Help. Me. With. Him.”

Jeff lunged forward and grabbed Duncan from her. “What the hell are you doing, Ian? Ugh.”

Duncan mumbled into his side, “Iiiimmm druuuuunk. Maaaybee. Just a taad.”

Jeff awkwardly maneuvered him over to the couch and then shoved him onto the furniture.

Duncan sat still for a moment before leaning over to prostrate himself on the couch. He let out a moan.

Britta sat down on the arm of the couch and turned to look at Jeff. She spoke loudly, “Thank god you were home. As you can see, he’s wasted. And I can’t even see why. I mean _I_ can hold my liquor, but this dweeb….” She gestured at Duncan, crinkling her nose up in disdain.

Jeff interjected sternly, “Be quiet. You’ll wake up the munchkin.”

Britta’s eyes widened as she clamped a hand over her mouth. Although mumbling, her volume remained unchanged, “Oh my god! I’m sorry. Sophie’s here?”

Jeff placed one finger to his lips. “Shhhh….”

Duncan added loudly for good measure, “Shhhhhhh….” He then burst in a fit of giggles.

That’s when the crying started.  

“Oh, hell,” Jeff mumbled as he ran a hand over his face.

“I’m so sorry, Jeff, I didn’t know….”

As Jeff began to make his way toward Sophie’s room (err, his study), the door to his bedroom flung open and Annie emerged, looking peeved.

Britta called out, “Hey, Annie. Look, I’m sorry…”

She stared at Britta for moment, let out a long sigh of exasperation, and then turned the other way down the hall and went into the study, closing the door behind her.

After a moment, the sobbing stopped and Jeff let out a sigh.

He shook his head and stated adamantly, “You need to keep your voices down.”

Britta grimaced and lowered her voice, “I didn’t know she would be here. Where do you put her anyway?” She leaned over to stare down the hallway toward the study.

Jeff waived his hand in the air. “That’s irrelevant. Why did you bring him here?” He watched as Duncan turned on his side and started to let out low snores. Jeff looked at him in disgust and then made his way toward the kitchen.

Britta followed, remarking, “You’re listed as his emergency contact in his phone, along with your address.” She watched in befuddlement as Jeff reached down to unlatch a low plastic gate and opened it, allowing them to walk through into the kitchen.

He opened a cabinet and pulled out a couple glasses. “You both need fluids.” He began to fill up the glasses with water. He remarked irritably, “And why in hell am I listed as his emergency contact? And my address?”

“It said in case of severe drunkenness, escort to Jeff Winger’s abode.”

“Of course it does,” he remarked flatly.

Britta turned to scan the kitchen, leaning over to peek into the living room. “So this is where you live? Not bad.”

“Yup,” Jeff remarked tersely as he started to fill up the second glass.

Britta groaned. “What was I supposed to do? I didn’t think you’d be this mad. I thought you two had an understanding or something.”

Jeff sighed as he handed her a glass. “He hasn’t done this in a very long time.”

“Oh.”

“It’s fine. Whatever.”

He motioned for her to follow him. As they crossed out of the kitchen, he reached for the gate and clicked it back in place.

Britta asked, “Why do you have that plastic thingy? That’s weird.”

“It’s for the baby hobbit. Otherwise she gets into the lower cabinets.”

He walked over and placed the other glass on the coffee table in front of a slumbering Duncan.

He squinted his eyes as he mused, “I’m not sure if we should wake him up and make him drink something or if he’ll just puke all over my couch.”

“Are those Sophie’s toys?” Britta gestured over to the far wall where Sophie’s beanbag, books, and a couple of Annie’s old stuffed animals lay strewn about.

“No, they’re mine.”

“Jackass.”

Jeff sat down in a chair and let out a long sigh. “Christ. I don’t think he’s going to make it to a cab. Why didn’t you just take him home?”

Britta shrugged as she perched herself on the arm of the couch. “I don’t know where he lives. And he wouldn’t tell me for some reason. And his license lists Greendale as his address.”

Jeff nodded slowly. “He’s even more paranoid when he’s drunk.”

“I’ll say. And I would have taken him to my place but he told me he’s severely allergic to cats. And I have several.”

Jeff frowned. “He’s not allergic to cats. He’s been around my mom’s cats many times.”

“He knows your mom?”

Jeff shrugged and remarked irritably, “They’re friends.”

“Interesting.”

Jeff turned to look at her and frowned even more. “Wait…why were you two together anyway? The last I recall, you were at The Ballroom with the gang celebrating Troy’s birthday.”

Britta rolled her eyes. “Yeah, before you and Annie were _lame_ and called it an early evening.”

“It’s the second night of Hanukkah.”

“It is? And since when are you Jewish?”

“ _Annie_ is Jewish. And we needed to pick up Sophie.”

She shrugged as she glanced with bemusement at the Menorah on the side table. “I guess you guys didn’t miss much. Pierce never showed up, Shirley left early for some reason, Abed got a drink thrown in his face, and Troy seemed really bitchy.”

“So where does Ian fit in?   Did you run into him or something?”

Britta stood up and wandered over to the eating area, eager to change the subject.

“You have a high chair?”

“Humph.”

She nodded as she continued to eye her surroundings. “And your décor. It’s interesting. It’s like a blend of obtuse male bachelor and, I think I wouldn’t venture too far in saying, preppy overachieving girl and _toddler chaos_.”

“Whatever.”

“It’s _really_ interesting, actually. The blue-green-whatever pillow is a nice touch, as is the tablecloth. I wouldn’t expect someone like you to have a tablecloth….”

“Britta…”

She began to fondle the tablecloth between her fingers as she mused, “I so wish Professor Duncan had allowed me to see his place. I’ve wondered what that squishy sweater-vest wearing weirdo lives like. I’m guessing he might have a lot of books. And booze. And probably porn. Where do you keep your porn now that Annie lives here?”

Jeff swiftly got up and joined her by the table. He lowered his voice to a loud whisper, “ _She doesn’t live here_. And why were you two hanging out?” He gestured over in the direction of the snoring Duncan.

Britta opened her mouth as if to speak when she was saved by the reemergence of Annie, who was holding Sophie on her side. Sophie was sucking her thumb and whimpering.

Sophie’s eyes widened when she saw Britta. She took her thumb out of her mouth and said softly, “ _Tit-ta.”_

Britta blushed and whispered, “Hi Sophie.” She gave her a little wave.

Sophie smiled weakly and then shoved her thumb back in her mouth.

Annie asked, “Is everything okay?”

Britta clasped her hands together and pleaded, “I’m sorry, Annie. I explained everything to Jeff. I didn’t know we’d wake Sophie up. Professor Duncan’s asleep on the couch…”

Annie sighed softly. “It’s fine.”

Jeff moved over to Annie and studied Sophie for a moment. “You can’t get her back to sleep?”

Annie looked up at him with a weary smile. “No, she’s pretty upset. Can you take her? I need to talk to Britta.”

“Yup.” He leaned over and took Sophie from her.

Annie kissed Sophie’s knee and instructed him, “Take her into our bedroom. She might fall asleep more readily there. I’ll be there in a little bit.”

Jeff nodded, glanced at Britta with a scowl, and then went into the bedroom with Sophie.

Annie motioned for Britta to sit down at the dining table. She sat down and laced her fingers together, clearing her throat before saying, “I thought you were going to stay away from him.”

Britta slid into a chair opposite her and replied, “I wasn’t done with my experiment.”

“Oh come on, Britta. Cut the crap.” Annie rolled her eyes.

“I rarely hear you swear.”

“You woke me up.”

“I thought maybe you and douche boy were having sex.”

Annie let out a long sigh. “It’s _three am_. Do I look like I’ve just been having sex?” She gestured wildly at her long green t-shirt and messy hair.

Britta eyed her ensemble and frowned. ”No, actually. You look like you just woke up.”

Annie groaned and cradled her chin in her hands as she hunched over the table.

Britta nodded as if deep thought. “Of course. You guys left so early. You probably had sex around then.”

“Britta! Can we please stop talking about me and Jeff having _sex_?”

Britta shrugged. “Therapists are interested in sex.” She made more intense eye contact with Annie as she asked, “So you _were_ having sex earlier?”

Annie replied in exasperation, “Fine. _We had sex_.”

Britta nodded triumphantly.

Annie continued while blushing, “Now can we talk about what you’re doing with Professor Duncan?”

Britta scowled and placed her elbow on the table. She leaned her face on her hand so that she was directly facing Annie, mere inches apart. “I’m not having sex with him.”

“The condoms?”

“As I explained before, were _just in case_.”

Annie pursed her lips and hesitated before stating, “If you’re running an experiment on him, then I don’t see why you’d need the condoms.”

Britta shrugged her free shoulder. “Hey, you never know.”

Annie narrowed her eyes. “Admit to me that you _like him_. It’s okay.”

“I’ve told you a million times he’s disgusting.”

“Have you studied denial yet in your psych classes?”

“Of course I have.”

“Sure.”

“Huh?”

Annie added, “And Professor Duncan’s not actually disgusting. Sure, he can be a bit _crass_ …”

Britta sat back and nodded emphatically as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Annie continued, “But Jeff’s mom adores him. And I adore her, so if Dorie sees some good in him than my guess is it’s there. And knowing you, I think you probably see it to.”

Britta eyed Annie skeptically. “ _Dorie?_ That’s Jeff’s mom?”

“Yes.”

“And she has _cats?_ ”

Annie looked at her in puzzlement. “Yes, and two rabbits and a dog.”

“I should meet her. She sounds cool.”

Annie sat up and sighed wearily. “She is. And again, to come back to _the subject_ , she and Professor Duncan are close. She even invites him to Christmas every year. I was there last year, and he doesn’t drink around her. He’s much less crass then.”

“So you _were_ at Jeff’s mom’s Christmas last year? I thought Slater was full of it, but looks like there has been something going on between the two of you longer than I thought.”

“Slater?”

“So what were you saying about denial earlier?”

Annie stilled and looked down. “You know what? Maybe we should call it a night. But you should stay here.”

Britta tilted her head to the side as she watched Annie, who was twisting the end of Jeff’s long t-shirt into knots. “Don’t you need to check with Jeff? Or do you live here now?”

Annie stiffened and pursed her lips. “Stay here. I worry about you.”

“Aww, Annie…” Britta leaned forward and reached for Annie’s hand.

Annie let her grasp it as she lifted her eyes and remarked, “And maybe we can talk some other time, when you’re completely _sober_ , about what you’re really doing with Professor Duncan.”

“I’m merely running an experiment…”  
  
Annie clasped her free hand over their hands and pressed down. “I swear you are one of the most un-self-aware people I’ve ever met!” She began to laugh.

“Hey, if I was lacking in self awareness I’d know!”

Annie stopped her laughter and rolled her eyes. She squeezed Britta’s hand one more time before she got up and went into the bedroom.

A couple minutes later Jeff emerged, looking sleepy and irritated, holding a roll of sheets and a pillow under his arm.

He stated dryly, “Annie says you’re staying.”

“Thanks.” Britta stood and pushed in her chair clumsily as she took a moment to steady herself.

Jeff sighed. “Yeah yeah. Just help me move the British lunatic.”

“Move him?”

“Annie says you’re sleeping on the couch. And she thinks it would be better if Ian didn’t puke on the furniture. So you and I are moving him to the floor.” He motioned for her to follow him.

“Wow. Annie sure says a lot of things. And you just do them.”

Jeff grunted.

Britta discovered Jeff’s technique of moving Duncan mainly consisted of having her hold the bedding as he shoved Duncan off the couch. There was a loud thud and Duncan groaned before he resumed snoring. Britta cringed. Jeff then hastily made up the couch, muttering various curses under his breath.

“There.” He smacked the pillow and gestured to it.

Britta smiled guiltily. “Thanks, Jeff. I really appreciate it. And sorry for waking everyone up.”

“Whatever.”

“And please tell Annie thanks again.”

He nodded grumpily and went back into the bedroom.

Britta turned and looked down, letting out a small gasp of relief as she spotted Duncan’s glasses safe on the coffee table. She then plopped herself on the couch and pulled the blankets over her head in order to drown out the snores.

Annie eyed Jeff as he closed the door to the bedroom behind him.

He muttered, “Fuck. I want to kill them.”

Anne reflexively placed her hands over Sophie’s ears, even as Sophie snoozed next to her on the bed.

Jeff looked over at her and whispered, “Sorry.”

Annie whispered back, “Come here, dummy. It’s okay. At least they’re safe.”

Jeff slid into bed and let out a sigh as he turned to face Annie. He continued to whisper, “We’ll get them out tomorrow ASAP.” He glanced down at Sophie who was lying in between them, clutching her bear. “Is she staying?”

Annie nodded softly and leaned on her side. “I think so. I don’t want to risk her waking up again. Is that okay?”

“Yeah of course. Just make sure I don’t crush her.” He scooted back on his side of the bed.

Annie yawned and then remarked, “Good thing you have a king bed.”

“See? I told you my place is better,” Jeff mumbled and dozed off. 

*************************

Jeff felt the poking of his eyelids before he heard the giggling. He opened one eye slightly and was startled by a big blue orb staring back at him.

“Oh.”

_“Hi.”_

“Good morning, munchkin.”

He gently moved Sophie’s _spitty_ hand away from his face.

She let out a chuckle.

“What’s so funny?’

 _“Eye.”_  

“Very good. That is my eye. Good job.”

He yawned and scooted to a sitting position. Sophie smiled and then pushed herself beside him. She looked over at a sleeping Annie.

 _“Mama_.”

“Yes, we should let mommy sleep. She put up with enough last night.” He glanced over at the nightstand clock, noticing with some surprise it was seven am. While Sophie’s wake up times varied, she usually got up around six. He smiled to himself.

_Well that’s one side effect of having the drunken idiots in the next room. They disrupted her sleep._

Or wait, had she been watching him sleep for an hour? That would be kinda creepy.

_Nah._

He noticed Sophie had been inching her way closer to him. She looked at him expectantly.

“What?”

_“MumMummmm…”_

“Fine. We’ll go eat breakfast. But we’re letting mommy sleep.” He reached over and scooped her up. He then felt her diaper.

He grumbled, “Goddamn it, I suppose I have to do that thing…”

Annie may have peeked for a moment as she heard Jeff speak but quickly shut her eyes.

After an at least not very dramatic diaper change, Jeff handed Sophie her bear and escorted her out of the bedroom. He closed the door softly behind them.

“Go on. Freedom, munchkin.” He shooed her off to the living room and followed slowly behind her, yawning.

He almost forgot Duncan and Britta were there. At least until he heard Sophie exclaim loudly, _“What dat?”_

Jeff shuffled over to the living room and spied Sophie pointing and standing in front of Duncan, who continued to slumber on the floor.  
  
Jeff responded in a serious tone, “That’s _Duncan._ He’s _druuunk_.”

Sophie nodded sagely as if she fully understood the situation.

Britta was peering at Sophie over the blanket. She remarked, “You can’t just tell her that, jackass. Drunk is a difficult concept for…”

Jeff interjected, “Then don’t call me,” he mouthed, “ _jackass.”_

“Oh, sorry.”

Jeff groaned and leaned down to take Sophie’s hand. “Let’s go get breakfast.”

_“Tit-ta.”_

Jeff stifled a laugh as he watched Britta’s expression of embarrassment.

“Can you tell her to call me _Britta_ , please?”

“That’s what she just said.”

“No, she said “ _tit-ta_ , jerk.”

He shrugged.

Britta narrowed her eyes. “And I know she can say her _Bs_ because she calls Abed _Bed_.”

Sophie disentangled herself from Jeff’s hand and toddled over to Britta with a smile. _“Tit-ta.”_ She then attempted to hoist herself onto the couch.

Jeff eyed with amusement the chubby leg barely reaching the cushion.

Britta sighed and pulled her up. “Okay, you are pretty cute. I guess you can call me whatever you want.” She glanced over to Jeff suspiciously, “It’s _frickin_ early.”

“Believe it or not, she’s usually up earlier than this. I think your arrival threw her off last night.”

“Seriously? How can you stand it?”

He shrugged again.

Britta eyed Jeff’s hair. “So is that your actual bed head look? It’s not that bad. You probably spend way too much time trying to get it to look just like that.”

He rolled his eyes. “You know, I think I’ve had enough of your observations to last me a lifetime. Watch her. I’m going to make breakfast.”

Although the next hour was slightly awkward, Britta and Duncan were able to eventually leave the apartment. Annie had gotten up by then and they collectively made sure Duncan was awake enough to make his way home via cab.

After they left, Jeff turned to Annie as she sat with Sophie while she _slowly_ ate the remainders of her breakfast.

He commented, “Well that was just bizarre. Thank god he made it to the bathroom to throw up or I might have needed to kill him.”

Annie grimaced. “We did the right thing. I’m glad they’re both okay.”

Jeff frowned in thought. “It’s still so weird they were together. I mean it would have made more sense for Britta to have shown up with Troy. It was his 21st birthday after all.”

Annie eyed him skeptically. “But Britta told me she explained everything to you.”

“Explained what?”

Annie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You know what? It doesn’t matter.”

Jeff shrugged and popped a piece of turkey bacon in his mouth.

He remarked nonchalantly, “I’m just glad they didn’t stay for breakfast.”

Annie asked with a look of incredulousness in her eyes, “Do you and Professor Duncan ever _talk_ or just drink?!?” 

*****************************

The week after Troy’s infamous birthday, Jeff assumed things at Greendale might calm down, as they were almost due for a much-needed winter break. He had successfully avoided Ian with the exception of actually attending Anthropology class.

And Ian appeared to be dodging him as well, probably out of embarrassment, which now that Jeff paused to think about, was a bit uncharacteristic of him.

_Was it possible the lunatic was actually feeling bad about waking up Sophie?_

_Nah._

Jeff shrugged to himself and pushed his ponderings aside while attempting to keep his head down.

_Must get through semester without going crazy._

And then Abed turned up at school in an odder mood than usual, proclaiming everyone was stop-animated. Britta freaked out and insisted Jeff help her drag Abed to see Ian, stating that she was convinced he could help him.

As they sat on Ian’s office couch with Abed in between them, Jeff got the sense he was missing something. He glanced between Britta and Ian, noting they appeared to be engaging in some nonverbal exchanges consisting of shrugs, gasps, and eye rolls. Well the eye rolls were coming exclusively from Britta, but it was still puzzling.

But Jeff knew when to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want to know. He had the feeling that any line of inquiry would suck him further into the craziness of Greendale.

And he just needed to get through the semester, which was over after today.

_Must get through semester without going crazy._

Of course getting involved was unavoidable.  He had to admit to himself he was more than slightly concerned about Abed. And it almost wrenched his chest to watch Annie in pain as she interacted with their friend.

The day got stranger from there, with Ian, at Britta’s cheerleading, attempting an unwanted psychological intervention on Abed. Abed proclaimed the study group members turned into various Christmas toys, Ian announced himself a wizard, and they may have burst into several rounds of song. Jeff was able to successfully remove himself for a little while (or as Abed insisted, he was eaten by humbugs) but eventually came back, feeling guilty that he had left Annie in there.

_What was happening to him?_

Not that she appeared to mind him leaving her behind. She seemed to be genuinely concerned that Abed was sad.

And maybe Jeff was too.

_Dammit._

And Annie made her best efforts to convince Jeff to invite Abed to Christmas, “so he won’t be alone.” She had looked at him with those adorable and ridiculous eyes and he then sucked it up and offered Abed a place at his mom’s place. He had to admit he was relieved when Abed said he and Troy decided to hang out instead, having both missed having their moms around. And Abed may have given indications he didn’t want to be around Ian anymore after his forced therapy efforts.

Jeff was momentarily relieved, feeling he did the right thing while also not having to deal with the mess that having Abed at his mom’s house would likely bring.

And then Annie switched gears, pointing out that Ian had gone running off muttering something about his own _mum_ crying at Christmas when he was 10, and his dad not being around. Jeff was able to stop Annie from going after him, later finding out Ian had gone off drinking with the Dean anyway.

He was left looking at Annie’s watery Disney eyes and did the only thing he could do. He pulled her in for a hug and promised her everything would be okay. 

****************

Winter break was a welcome respite from the Greendale drama. Jeff was still getting the hang of Hanukkah, but he had to admit to himself he was slightly relieved when Annie went to go visit her Bubbe for an evening without him, insisting it would be awkward since her Bubbe didn’t really know who _she_ was. She took Sophie with her, knowing it was highly likely that her Bubbe would mistake Sophie for Annie yet again this year.

Jeff amused himself at first, enjoying the silence in his apartment.

_Take that, therapist. I am so not ‘anxious.’_

He then started to fret about what to do about Annie’s birthday. Annie’s 20th birthday. She’d no longer be a teenager.

_I’ll feel even better when she turns twenty-one._

Although Jeff didn’t want to even make efforts to top Annie’s birthday surprise for him, he didn’t quite know what to do to match his purple pen gift from the beginning of the school year. It didn’t escape his notice that his _romantic,_ as Annie was now calling it, pen and ink gift was purchased for her birthday last year when they weren’t even dating.  

So he did what any _reasonable_ person would do and obsessed over it for the next two days.

**********************

“Christ. I should have saved the pens for this year. I’m an idiot,” He mumbled to himself as she strolled through the mall.

“You sure are an idiot.”

Jeff jumped as he turned, spying Britta standing beside him, watching him intently.

“What the hell? Why are _you_ here?”

“I’m allowed to be at the mall, jerkwadface.” She kicked the ground with her combat laden foot.

Jeff let out a low groan and looked upward. “I have something to do. So if you don’t mind?”

_“Tit-ta.”_

Britta looked down and smiled affectionately. “Well hello there, Sophie. You have a nice stroller. What are you and Mr. GrumpyJerkMan up to today?”

Sophie giggled.

Jeff closed his eyes, leaning his hands on the stroller handles. He stated irritably, “If you must know, we’re shopping for a birthday present for Annie.”

“When’s Annie’s birthday?”

“Next week. The 19th.”

“Really? That kinda sucks her birthday’s over winter break. Then we don’t celebrate it as a group. Your birthday was _interesting_.”

“Yeah yeah. I’m not organizing any surprise parties. That’s not my speed.”

“I figured. Where is Annie anyway?” Britta moved her head around, looking behind Jeff.

“She’s at work. Hence the gift buying venture.”

“So are you like with Sophie all day? I keep running into the two of you.” She tilted her head to the side with a bemused expression.

“Just a few hours. And anyway, we need to get going…”

“What are you going to get her?”

“Fuck. I have no clue.”

_“Fuck.”_

Britta and Jeff stared downward in shock. 

*************************

“You don’t have to keep following me around.”

Britta shrugged. “I was bored anyway. And Sophie likes me.” She glimpsed down again at Sophie and smiled. “Don’t you, Sophie?”

Sophie squealed. And then started whining.

Jeff smirked. “She likes you so much, you can watch her while I run in somewhere.”

Britta hunched down in front of Sophie, who immediately stopped crying and started to reach for Britta.

“You really just came to the mall to get Annie a present? That surprises me. I would think you’d have thought it out more, knowing you two. You got her _purple pens_ for crying out loud. I find it hard to believe you’re just going to impulsively pick something now.”

“Whatever.”

“Come on, you _do_ have an idea. You just don’t want to tell me and you’re trying to get rid of me…”

\--“Watch her, please?”

“I guess I could for a few minutes.”

“Great. Thanks.”

She looked up to see him gone. She frowned as she glanced around in various directions, with no Jeff in sight. She then turned back to Sophie.

“I wonder where the weirdo went.”

She scanned around once more, noting the stores nearby. There was a vitamin shop, a toy store, and a jeweler.

She scrunched up her face in thought.

“This should be interesting.”

 

 

 

 

 


	23. Hotel Dorie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff navigate the holidays as a couple

Annie seemed pleased with her birthday. 

“I had such a nice day today. Thank you for spending it with me and Sophie.” She smiled brightly at Jeff as they sat on the couch after putting Sophie to bed.

Jeff gave a light shrug and wrapped his arm around her. “But I didn’t give you a gift.”

Annie leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “But you already gave me what I wanted. We had a good time watching the ice skaters in the park and looking at all the holiday decorations downtown. And it was nice to do the Santa thing, even if Sophie’s technically Jewish. She looked so cute up there. And lunch was nice too.”

“Yeah, it was a step above Denny’s. But only one step. I needed to find a place that would accept an adorable sticky mess.”

Annie laughed. “And I’m glad you knew I wouldn’t want you to get a sitter today. I wanted to spend my birthday with _both_ of you.”

He sighed and began to caress her hair. “Yeah, I thought about that actually. My original plan was to take you out to a fancy dinner and buy you something expensive. But you’ve been yelling at me for spending too much money on you as it is.”

Annie felt her body relax against him further. She _told_ Britta she was being ridiculous with the whole jewelry thing. She recalled their conversation the other day:

_“What if I were to say I have reason to think he’s going to do something stupid for your birthday?”_

_Annie raised her eyebrows. “My birthday?”_

_Britta nodded.   “I ran into him at the mall. He ditched me with Sophie for a few minutes so he could get you something.”_

_“He told me you sat with Sophie for a little bit so that he could run an errand.”_

_Britta sighed. “Not exactly. Annie, I say this as your friend and so that you can prepare yourself. Think carefully on this one. The two of you haven’t been dating very long. And I know you’ve practically moved in with him…”_

_\--“I didn’t move in with him…”_

_“ Which is surprising in some ways maybe, I don’t know, but look, you can’t just marry him.”_

_Annie’s eyes bulged out of her head. “Marry him? What are you talking about?!?”_

_Britta caressed Annie’s hand and let out a soft sigh. “He’s a goober. He was freaking out over what to get you for your birthday, doing that thing he does, looking all pained and constipated. I’m pretty sure he went into the jewelry store. And we know what stupid men do when they’re being stupid.”_

_Annie stared at her. “You think he got me a ring?”_

_Britta nodded sagely._

_“Did you see it?”_

_“No, but…”_

_“Did you see him come out of a jewelry store or are you just making an assumption?”_

_“Well, I didn’t actually see him go in or come out, but it was right there. The only other stores were a vitamin shop and a toy store.”_

_“Did he tell you he was going to propose to me?”_

_“Well, no….”_

_Annie shook her head. “Then you’re being silly.”_

_“But he left whatever shop he went into without a bag, so whatever he bought must have fit in his jacket pocket.”_

_“Britta!”_

Annie roused herself from her thoughts and concentrated on the present moment. They had a fun day today and they were having a nice time. She placed a kiss on his chest and then nuzzled her head into him, enjoying the sensations of him touching her hair.

She uttered softly, “You bought the crib, the gates, the carseat, my luxurious sheets, my pens….”

“And I was happy to do it.”

She mumbled, “It’s just too much. And then you’ve been getting me Hanukkah gifts.”

“I’d hardly call gold foil wrapped chocolate coins to be an indulgence. Isn’t that the cheesiest of Hanukkah gifts?”

She lifted her head and then sat up slightly so she could see him. “You spend too much on me. I don’t need gifts.”

He groaned. “But you like to give gifts. You’ve been getting Sophie little things all through Hanukkah.”

“Just little baby books. She can always use more books…”

“You gave _me_ a Dreidel. I’m not even Jewish.”

Annie let out a chuckle. “That wasn’t expensive. I wanted to teach you. And then we can play with Sophie when she gets older. It’s important for me that she feels connected to her heritage. And I always liked doing things like that when I was a child.”

Jeff found his attention catching on the words _when she gets older_. He felt his heart rate speed up slightly.

_Don’t panic, Winger. Don’t over think it. Stay in the moment._

He squinted his eyes. “And I know you said we shouldn’t exchange Christmas presents, but why do I have a feeling you’re going to get me a stocking or something? You give gifts all the time.”

“I mostly just bake for you. And then you tell me you hate it.”

“True….”

“And then you eat it anyway.”

“But I can get the baby hobbit something for Christmas, right?”

“If you want to.”

He let out a sigh. “Of course I’m getting her something for Christmas.”

“You’ve already gotten her a crib and the other stuff….”

“Stop it please.” He cleared his throat before he continued, “I have something to say.”

“Okay.”

He cleared his throat once more. “Soooo, anyway, now that the baby hobbit is in her crib for the night and we’re alone, I thought I’d give you your actual birthday present.”

Annie eyed him curiously, detecting a slight tremble in his voice.

“You didn’t need to get me anything.”

She felt him take a deep breath, so she sat up completely to face him.

“Yes, I did. And well, maybe it’s not exactly a birthday present. But it’s something I’ve been thinking about.”

“Something you’ve been wanting to give me?”

He nodded slightly and then paused before saying, “Kind of.” He moved his eyes away from hers and pursed his lips.

“Jeff?”

He inhaled sharply and looked down before he began to speak quickly, “Okay, I know it might seem too soon…”

“Soon?”

“You might freak out, please don’t freak out…”

Annie’s eyes widened. “Um, Jeff…”

“But I really want this. I think it would be a good thing for us to do.”

“Wait…what?”

“And I know you’d worry about the effects on Sophie, but I think it’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.”

Annie continued to stare at him. _Oh god, what if Britta was right?_

He jabbered on, “And I don’t mean right now. I know it’s too soon, but I want you to know what I’m thinking, and I’m thinking spring. Or summer.”

“Jeff, please, don’t…” _Spring? Summer? What? How is that not soon?_

“And I can arrange the whole thing. Don’t worry about the expense. I have enough to cover it and it’ll be no problem….”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about, I just don’t think…”

“And look, I didn’t think I’d ever in my life do this, but hell, I can do it with you. I know I can do it with _you_.”

He grabbed her hands and clasped them tightly, finally looking up and staring into her eyes.

He looked terrified.

Annie’s eyes remained wide open. She felt her voice shake as she said, “Jeff, please think. Things are fine. Things are more than fine. Let’s just keep things the way they are.”

He nodded and then unclasped their hands so that he could reach around and grab something out of the side table.

“I put it in here so the hobster wouldn’t get to it. These drawers are heavy and hard to open. Although she’s getting stronger, so maybe I should get those little lock thingys or something…”

“Jeeeff…”

“But at any rate, she didn’t find _this_.”

He swooped back around to face her, holding a brochure.

Annie startled. _Wait..what?!?_

He handed it to her. “My birthday present to you will be an overnight here. I think it looks nice. It’s a great hotel; it’s near the lake. They have a ton of things at the resort, including a spa. So if you want to get away from me, I know you need alone time, or whatever, you can go get a steam, a facial, whatever you want. And we could go out on one of the boats. And there’s a couple nice restaurants….”

“You want us to go on vacation?”

He jabbered on, “Um, yeah. And look, I’ve already talked to my mom, and she says she’d be happy to watch the sticky one for a night. Or even two, but I figured a whole weekend away might be too much. I know it might be too soon to leave her. But you were saying you’d consider having her stay with Adam over night after the holidays. So, maybe we could have her stay with my mom? She likes my mom. And she’d be safe. But if you think one night would be more manageable for both of you, that’s fine. And hopefully my mom can keep her spoiled and distracted enough so that she won’t be too upset that you’re away overnight….”

Annie started laughing and then smacked him on the chest with the brochure.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t stop….” She wiped the tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she continued to convulse.

He frowned. “Hey, I thought you’d freak out and wouldn’t want to leave her, not _laugh_ at me. What’s so funny?!?”

Annie took in a gulp of air and stilled herself. “Absolutely nothing. You are my doofus. I love you.”

He looked at her incredulously. “Ooookay. So do I take it you’re open to going?”

“I think it’s a great idea. It’ll be fun. Thank you.” She placed a kiss on his cheek.

He let out a breath. “Oh, good.”

“But can I just ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What vitamins did you buy the other day?”

Jeff scrunched up his face in confusion and replied, “Um, I got a new multivitamin for strength building and then a vitamin D supplement. It’s winter.”

Annie started to laugh again. 

**********************

Christmas came quickly.   Dorie was in full Dorie-mode for the holiday, decorating her house and making it ready for guests. Jeff, Annie, and Sophie arrived the day before with plans to stay for a few days.

“It seems this is a thing now. Staying at my mom’s for several days.” Jeff grumbled as he tossed his duffel bag on the bed.

Annie smiled brightly. “It’ll be so nice! You should spend more time with your mom. And now that we can sleep in the same bed, you don’t have to strain your back on the couch like last year.”

“And we will be in the same bed.” He stared at it and swallowed hard.

She followed his line of sight and asked, “What is it?”

“We’ll be here for several days, and I won’t be able to touch you.”

“Oh please. You can touch me.”

“No I can’t. That little fondle fest we did over Thanksgiving almost killed me.”

She swatted him. 

********************

On Christmas Day, they helped Dorie make last minute preparations, including sequestering the rabbits in the garage. Jeff took on this task as Sophie watched the proceedings.

_“Bunny go.”_

Jeff nodded. “Yes, bunny goes awaaaay.” He closed the door to the garage and dusted off his hands.

Sophie stood there looking sadly at the door. “ _Bye bye.”_

There may have been a slight wave. And then the pouting turned into tears.

“Oh Christ.” Jeff scowled, feeling his chest wrench for some reason.

_It’s just a rabbit._

He scooped her up and carried her back to the living room.

“Here you go. Here is a cat. A cat that will likely run away from you.” He placed Sophie in a standing position on the floor in front of Hansel.

Sophie stared at him for a moment and smiled. _“What dat?”_ She pointed to Hansel.

“Cat.”

_“Ca.”_

Jeff shrugged.   “Good enough.”

Sophie reached for Hansel, and he successfully avoided her grasp.

She cried again.

Jeff sighed and picked her up. 

*********************

“It’s good to see you, Annie! When Aunt Dorie told me you and Sophie would be coming, I was so happy.”   Jeff’s cousin Holly grabbed Annie for a hug.

“It’s good to see you too.” Annie smiled and glanced over to Holly’s husband, Matt, who was holding Sam. “And you too! And hi there, Sam. You’re getting so big.”

Sam buried his face into his father’s chest.

Matt remarked, “Merry Christmas. We took bets on when you and Jeff would _come out_.” He knelt down on the ground and began taking off Sam’s coat.

Holly shot him a bemused look.

Annie’s cheeks reddened as she stammered, “Oh, um…”

Holly waved one hand in the air dismissively.   “It’s okay, he’s just trying to be funny. You two were so cute last year and Jeff as usual was all weird about everything.”

Annie’s eyes widened as she clarified, “We weren’t _together_ last year.”

Holly looked at her for a moment and then shrugged. “Whatever. Aunt Dorie tells me you are now though? And that it’s been awhile?”

“Um, yes.” Annie bit her lip as she nodded.

“Well great. That’s great, right Matt?”

“Sure. Hey, where is your kid?”

Annie smiled as she replied, “Sophie’s with Jeff in the living room. They’re playing with her kangaroo and some blocks.”

Matt nodded as he turned to Sam. “Go find Sophie. She’s that way.” He gave him a slight push and Sam took off for the living room. He stood back up. “Not that he remembers her of course but I’m sure they’ll be best friends in no time.”

Annie sighed. “She’s still pretty small. She’ll be 18 months in a couple weeks. And Sam’s what, three now?”

Holly nodded. “He just turned three in early November. But they’ll be fine. He needs to get used to a little sibling anyway.”

Annie startled. “Oh? Are you…?”

“Yup. We’re just now telling people. Baby’s due in June.”

“Congratulations! That’s wonderful.” Annie gave Holly a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

Matt added, “Yeah, so you can see why Sam needs to socialize a little with a kid that needs more attention. He goes to daycare, but still. Speaking of, I’m going to go make sure he found her.” He walked off toward the living room.

Annie turned to Holly. “I’ll help you get everything upstairs. Dorie and I figured out place for Sam to nap near Sophie. She’s still in a crib of course, but Dorie says Sam’s in a toddler bed now. She rigged up something we think will work.” She motioned for Holly to follow her and they went upstairs.

Holly commented as they entered the bedroom, “I can’t tell you how delighted I am that you’re here. Now you and I can chat. I can’t wait to hear all about what my cousin Jeff is really like.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “He’s _Jeff_.”

“And who exactly is Jeff? I’ve never been able to figure that one out.”

“He’s a great guy. He’s just shy.”

Holly shrugged. “I guess I never thought of him that way. He’s either yammering on about something to his mom, and let me tell you I’ve heard those two word spar like no one’s business, or he’s being all grumpy and sarcastic.” She looked at Annie thoughtfully before she continued, “I think it’s good he’s with you. You seem much more open. Maybe he’ll loosen up a little.”

Annie sighed. “Thanks. I think he’s trying.”

“Well he’s playing on the floor with _a stuffed kangaroo and blocks_ for crying out loud. That’s something.” 

**************************

“I was wondering if you were actually going to be here this year.” Jeff looked down at Ian, who was removing his boots by the front door. He had placed one wrapped present on the floor, with the tag labeled, _Dorie_.

Jeff’s eyes lingered on the box for a moment and he experienced an inner groan. It always creeped him out a little when Ian brought his mother presents. And they were always so damn _thoughtful._ His mother’s reactions were enough to make him gag.

Ian grabbed the present and stood, nodding to Jeff. “Why wouldn’t I come? Dorie invited me per usual.”

Jeff folded his arms across his chest and remarked, “You’ve been extra strange lately. If I cared I’d almost say you were avoiding me. Not that I care.”

“Nonsense, Winger. I’ve been busy is all. End of semester grading. And your Anthropology class final papers were bloody frustrating, I must say.”

“Well you shouldn’t have asked us to write papers then. I can’t figure out why you’d do that.”

Ian shrugged. “I have one of my assistants handle most of the grading. But unfortunately, he’s been extra spazzy lately. Even by Garrett standards.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “You’re having _Garrett_ grade Anthropology papers?”

“I have a rubric. And he’s surprisingly insightful. I take a final pass.”

“I see.”

“But _Your Annie’s_ paper, now that was just beautiful. I read it myself. Really, she’s too good for you, Winger.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jeff remarked in a monotone.

They made their way to the den, where Ian plopped his bag down. Jeff turned to him suddenly and said, “Could you please take out that ridiculous note about having people _escort you to my abode in case of extreme drunkenness_ or some such crap? You guys woke up Sophie.”

Ian shrugged. “I suppose I could change the instructions. Now that your lifestyle has changed, I can certainly understand.”

They faced one another for several seconds in silence. Jeff squinted at him.

He then cleared his throat before he said, “My lifestyle has not _changed_. I’ve never liked you showing up like that.”

“But now you have the child there. You’re becoming positively domesticated my boy.” Ian slapped him on the back and grinned.

Jeff pushed Ian away from him and scowled. “I am not _domesticated._ I have to have her there or otherwise Annie and I can’t spend _time_ together, and look… You know what? It’s none of your business. You’re a mess. You’re even hanging out with _Britta_ , which is just weird.”

“I am not hanging out with Miss Perry. I merely ran into her that evening. And my memory is a tad fuzzy. I’m just glad that woman can follow instructions. She’s a keen observer, my friend. And she escorted me safely to your abode.”

Jeff eyed him with suspicion.

Suddenly Ian’s phone buzzed. He reached into his pocket and read the text. He frowned. “He’s not making any sense.”

“Who?”

“It’s Garrett. He says, ‘The experiment needs to be stopped. The data is corrupted.’

“So?”

“We’re not running any experiment.”

Jeff remarked dryly, “Well Garrett’s a strange creature. This can’t be the first nonsensical thing he’s said.”

“He hasn’t been keeping up with his assistant duties lately. He’s been downright unreliable which again, is highly unusual. That’s the only reason I put up with that mess. He’s usually surprisingly meticulous. And he’s always _there_.” He shot Jeff a judgmental glare as he added, “You’ll recall he’s the one who saved my life the night of the Tranny Dance.”

Jeff sighed loudly. “Don’t remind me.”

Ian shoved the phone back in his pocket. “I’d rather not think about it. I’m here at Dorie Winger’s house. The magical place at the happiest time of year.”

“Shut up.”

“But it is magical, my friend. I get to see you and Annie in action. Dorie tells me she told the whole gang that you two are an item. Does she know you two are shacking up?”

Jeff rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. “We are not _shacking up_. And again. None. Of. Your. Business.”

Ian eyed Jeff smugly. He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by the arrival of Dorie.

“Oh my goodness, hello Ian! I thought I heard your voice. Come here!” She reached over and hugged him tightly.

Jeff sighed loudly.

“Merry Christmas, dear.”

“Merry Christmas, Dorie. Thank you for having me.”

They disentangled themselves. Dorie stood back. She looked him up and down and smiled. “Of course. You know you’re always welcome.”

Ian grinned. “Your son and I were catching up. He was updating me on his living arrangements.”

Jeff eyed Ian over his mother’s shoulder and mouthed silently to him, _“I am going to fucking kill you.”_

“Oh really?” Dorie’s eyebrows rose and she turned to face Jeff, discovering he had already left the room.

Ian chuckled. 

*******************

Jeff ended up sitting next to Annie on one of the couches where they could watch Sophie and Sam play on the floor with Hank and the cats, who kept wisely running away for their lives.

Jeff’s eyes widened as Sophie tried to hand a plastic car to Houston. As Jeff started to rise from his seat, Annie grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.

He remained seated.

Houston scurried away.

Jeff let out a breath. He glanced over to where his mom was talking animatedly with his Aunt Ellen. They were standing in the doorway to the kitchen and would look at the kids occasionally and laugh before resuming their discussion. His eyes swept the room, noting Matt and his Uncle Lou were nowhere in sight - _how did they figure that one out?_ Maybelle was knitting in a chair near the window and smiling at the kids, and Annie was leaning away from him to talk excitedly with Holly, who was perched on her other side.

Jeff was conscious of the familiar mixed feeling of boredom and unease. He felt he should be doing something. Not necessarily _work_ per se, but _something_. Or drinking. A Scotch sounded really good right now, but he was saving his one drink for something worse. Right now was tolerable. And Annie seemed to be having a good time.

And now Sam was giving Sophie a hug. And Sophie was smiling and hugging him back.

“Awwww!   Look, they are so sweet!” Annie clasped her hands together.

She and Holly cooed for a moment. And Dorie and Ellen let out some oooohs. Maybelle chuckled.

Ian, who was perched to Jeff’s other side on the arm of the couch, turned to Jeff and wiggled his eyebrows.

“What?” Jeff looked at him and scowled in annoyance.

“Positively adorable. Sam will do very well with a younger sibling. Only children can get lonely. Don’t you think so, Jeffrey?”

Jeff started to roll his eyes but stopped himself when he sensed Annie turn toward Ian.

She exclaimed, “They are adorable, aren’t they?”

Ian nodded and kicked Jeff’s leg. “They are. Very sweet.”

Jeff didn’t want to give Ian the satisfaction of admitting that they were undeniably sweet. He didn’t often observe Sophie with kids closer to her age. Jordan and Elijah were the only kids he saw her around frequently. And when he picked her up from daycare she was often already waiting for him. And to be honest, he hadn’t paid that much attention to the other toddlers there.

Before Sophie, he never paid much attention to kids, period.

But Sophie and Sam were certainly sickeningly cute. He suppressed a smile and affected his sternest expression.

He watched as Sam seemed to lose interest in Sophie and went back to figuring out a toy car. Sophie didn’t seem fazed by this and toddled over to Annie. After a brief exchange of limited vocabulary, Annie handed Sophie some rice puffs. Sophie waddled away, shoving one in her mouth.

And trailing several behind her.

Hank swooped in and began to gobble them up. He followed Sophie as she made her way toward Dorie. When Sophie stopped, Hank bumped into her head. Sophie turned and shrieked in excitement, _“Doggie!”_

Jeff tensed again and mumbled to Annie, “She shouldn’t be that close to him.”

Annie grabbed his hand again and squeezed it. She whispered, “She’s fine. Your mom is right there.”

Dorie reached down and shooed Hank away.

Annie rubbed his hand. “See?”

Jeff relaxed slightly. He glanced over to Ian, who appeared to be studying him.

And then Ian wiggled his eyebrows once again.

Jeff scowled and got up. “I’m going to get more coffee. Do you want anything?”   He glanced at Annie.

“No, thank you.” She turned back to Holly and resumed their conversation.

Jeff walked toward the kitchen, happy to leave Ian behind. As he passed by his mom and aunt, he asked, “You want anything, mom? Aunt Ellen?”

They shook their heads.

He glanced down and Sophie and smirked. “What about you, munchkin? A pony?”

Sophie held up her hands, “ _Dee Deeff.”_

He reached down and scooped her up, balancing his coffee cup in one hand, and carried her off into the kitchen. It wasn’t until they were near the sink did he realize something. He placed his cup on the counter and sighed. He then walked out with her into the other room. He caught Annie’s eye, smiled tightly, and made his way upstairs.

Dorie watched him curiously. She turned to look at Annie who was beaming after him proudly before she resumed her conversation with Holly.

Several minutes later, Jeff and Sophie came back downstairs. Jeff placed her on the floor next to Sam, gave Annie a wink, and then walked back toward kitchen.

Holly watched him leave. With a bemused expression on her face, she then whispered something to Annie, who nodded. They laughed.

Dorie lightly touched Jeff’s arm as he passed her. She whispered, “Is everything okay, dear?”

He looked at her in puzzlement. “Yeah. Why?”

“Does she need anything?”

“Nope.” He turned and went into the kitchen.

Dorie gave her sister a shrug and then followed him.

As she entered the kitchen, Dorie asked with an incredulous tone, “Jeffrey, did you just change that child’s diaper?”

He was eyeing the inside of the coffee carafe. He frowned, keeping his eyes on it. “Yup.”

“You change diapers?”

He shrugged as he filled up the carafe with water. “Sure. Annie can’t do that all the time. And it’s better than Hank. Oh my god. That dog.” He closed his eyes for a moment with an exaggerated pained expression.

Dorie seemed to ponder something for a moment and then nodded thoughtfully as she stated, “You change diapers.”

He turned to look at her and rolled his eyes. “Yes, mom. I change diapers. Are you going to shout that to the entire world?”

She gasped, “Jeffrey! Why are you being like this?”

“Like what? Like _me_? Mom, I’ve always been like this.”

“No, you haven’t. Stop being so bitchy.”

He raised his eyebrows and then smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his back against the counter. “ _Bitchy?_ Oh that’s a find adjective to describe your son.”

“It’s along those lines. But see, I think it’s very nice you change diapers. And I’m sure Annie appreciates it.”

“Well, thank you, mom.” He looked up at the ceiling.

She walked over to him and placed one hand on her hip. She craned her neck and stared at him until he looked down and met her gaze. “You don’t need to be defensive about it. I’m proud of you. More men should change diapers.”

He gulped and nodded.

“Don’t be afraid of me, Jeffrey. I love you.”

“Thanks, mom.”

She reached up to pat him on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you alone with your irritability. Have fun.”

He sighed. “Mom….” 

***************************

After naptime and dinner, gifts were exchanged. Per agreement, not everyone exchanged gifts with everyone and efforts were mostly concentrated on the kids. Dorie seemed delighted to watch Annie open the gifts for Sophie, who mostly looked on from her seated position on Jeff’s lap.

“Mom, she has enough toys.”

“No she doesn’t. I wanted to get her a doll. She has all those stuffed animals but no doll.”

“It’s sweet. Thank you.” Annie turned and handed Sophie a soft-bodied bald baby doll.

“That’s hideous, mom.”

“Jeffrey!”

Ian chuckled and began to sip his tea as he watched the proceedings.

There were more murmurs of oooohs and ahhhs when other presents were opened. Jeff looked down and noticed Sophie was poking at the doll’s eye.

_“Eye.”_

“Yes, you’re good at that,” he whispered as he watched her continue to stab it.

Annie grabbed another present. “This one’s from Jeff. Awwwww…”

Jeff sighed as he shot Annie a look. He clarified, “It’s for the munchkin.”

Annie smiled giddily and started to carefully move her fingernail along the seam of the paper. Jeff pursed his lips, “Annie, just open it.”

“Okay.”

He sighed as he watched her finally tear open the wrapping.

As she spied the gift inside, she let out a quick laugh. “You didn’t! Jeeff!”

He shrugged and suppressed a grin.

“What did he get her?” Dorie leaned forward curiously.

Annie shook her head as she chuckled. “Hairclips.”

“Hairclips? Really, Jeffrey? I wouldn’t have expected that.”

Annie held a hand to her mouth to control her laughter. She leaned into Jeff’s side as she said softly, “You’re ridiculous.”

Temporarily forgetting where they were, he placed an arm around her shoulder and winked. “They’re purple.”

“I know.” She gave him a light swat.

Dorie looked back and forth between them in amusement. She exchanged looks with Holly and Ian.

After the gift exchange was over, the adults began cleaning up the torn pieces of wrapping paper and shuffling off to make tea and coffee.

Jeff knelt on the floor and grabbed some tissue paper, tossing it in the garbage bag. Sophie toddled up to him with her doll. She dropped it on the ground and stared at it.

“What is it oh hobbity one?”

_“Wan bah.”_

“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.” Jeff scanned the room with a frown. He spied a furry leg sticking out from under the couch. “Here he is.” He pulled out her bear and handed it to her.

She let out a squeal as she embraced it.

Holly laughed as she watched the exchange. “You understand her. I didn’t know she was asking for her bear.”

Jeff shrugged. “Yeah, well.” He then looked at Sophie intently and said, “Okay, I’m gonna put this away. You stay here with Holly and Sam.” He caught Holly’s eye. Holly nodded and scooted over to Sophie so that she was mid way between both of the kids on the floor.

Holly watched Sophie’s face fall as Jeff walked away.

_“Dee dee go.”_

***********************

The rest of Christmas went by peacefully. Sam played with his presents, particularly enjoying his new toy truck, and Sophie repeatedly tried to throw her bear into the same truck. Jeff could only handle so much of the monotony before he wanted to grab another drink, but he stopped himself, knowing his mom would be kind of upset by that. So he sucked it up distracted himself with attempting to stop Hank from going for Sophie’s rice puffs. And he may have taken Hank for a walk or two just to get out of the house.

Annie was sad to see Holly and her family leave, knowing how well Sophie and Sam seemed to play together, despite the age difference. As she hugged her goodbye, Holly said, “We should do something. Let’s not let a whole year pass by again before we see each other. Especially now that you’re officially dating my cheerful cousin.”

Jeff crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at Holly.

“Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too, Jeff.”

“Merry Christmas.”

She squinted back at him.

Annie sighed. “I’d like that. I’ll get your number from Dorie. And I’ll send you those pictures I took.”

“Aunt Dorie says you’re on facebook. I’ll friend you. I’ve wanted to since last year but she told me not to before this Christmas. She said didn’t want me to scare you off from her, and I quote, _spinster son_.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. He walked over to his mom and began saying something to her.

Holly watched them for a moment, noticing the animated expressions on both of their faces. She turned back to Annie. “I don’t know how you do it. He’s always so strange.”

“He’s not really.”

“You seem so normal.”

“I’m not, actually.”

“Maybe, but not _his_ not-normal. Look, we’ll figure something out and maybe you can get Jeff to finally show up to our family get-togethers.”

“Get-togethers?”

“My parents usually have cookouts in the summer. But he never comes. Aunt Dorie does, and she misses him.”

Annie sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.” 

************************

Two days later, Dorie took Sophie over to Maybelle’s next door, explaining that Maybelle’s hip was acting up and she couldn’t come over. She shared that Maybelle wanted to see Sophie again.

Dorie added, “We’ll probably be a little while. Maybelle usually makes tea and likes to chat. And she wants to show Sophie her new parakeet. Did I tell you Maybelle has a parakeet now?”

“Of course she does,” Jeff remarked sardonically.

After they left, Jeff made his move.

“We’re _alone,_ Annie. For the first time in two and a half days.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.

She batted her eyelashes at him as she remarked, “Maybe we could take a nap? I’m kind of tired.”

He licked his lips. “That’s a great idea. Maybe we could make out a little?”

“What makes you think I want to make out?”

“You’ve been rubbing your feet against my leg under the table every time we’ve sat down to eat in the past couple days.”

Annie placed a kiss on his chest and then looked back up at him with a grin.

He smirked and leaned in, kissing her softly. He pulled back to look at her for a moment and then moved back in, kissing her deeply as he wrapped a hand in her hair. She eagerly reciprocated, and they continued the kiss, pausing quickly for air before resuming it.

Once Jeff felt Annie’s knee buckle, he bent down, placed one arm under her knees, and picked her up.

“Jeff!”

He raised his eyebrows. “Let’s go nap.” He carried a laughing Annie up the stairs and into the bedroom. He kicked the door shut and then placed her on the bed.

“You’re crazy. Picking me up like that in your mom’s house!” She bounced once on the bed and laughed again.

“She’s next door. Maybelle’s making _tea_. Have you seen how slowly Maybelle moves?” He leaned over and began placing kisses down her neck. He then moved on to her breasts.

“Ummm….” Annie groaned as he undid some buttons on her blouse and moved his hand over the cups and then under her bra.

He mumbled, “You should probably take this off.”

“Okay.”

Within minutes, both of them had removed several items of clothing, leaving Jeff in his Paul Smiths (to Annie’s surprise, zebra) and Annie in her dark pink panties.

He kissed her breasts and reached underneath the panties.

She moaned as he found what he was looking for.

She sighed into this hair. “Jeeff…it’s your mom’s house.”

“Don’t care. If we don’t do this, I’ll _die_ Annie. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this.”

She laughed. “Since when?”

He muttered into her cleavage, “Since the eggnog.”

“That was the first night we were here.” She moved her hands through his hair, deliberately messing it up.

“Um hum. And then you’ve been all sexy cute with your ridiculous Christmas sweater.”

“You find my Christmas sweater sexy?”

He paused and looked up. “I find _you_ sexy _. In spite_ of that ridiculous sweater. And it was hugging you in all the right places.” He resumed kissing her breasts.

She gasped. “How much time do we have?”

He paused to glance at his watch. “We can do it. When my mom goes over there she’s back minimally in 45 minutes. And with Sophie there, I’d say an hour. Maybe more.”

“But she’s been gone how long?”

“Ten minutes. Let’s get on this, Annie.”

She nodded enthusiastically.

About ten minutes later, Dorie came back into the house, holding Sophie on her hip. She commented to Sophie, “Well that was disappointing. I’m sure we can go see Maybelle later when she’s done talking to her son. It’s good her son gave her a call. Poor dear gets so lonely. You should always call your mother, Sophie. Especially if you can’t be with her on Christmas.”

_“Gee Gee.”_

“That’s right, I am the world’s greatest grandma. But don’t tell your little friends. They’ll be jealous.”

Dorie felt Sophie’s bottom and frowned. “Oh dear, you need to be changed.” She glanced around the room and didn’t spot the diaper bag. She walked Sophie upstairs.

She stopped as soon as she saw the closed bedroom door.

She whispered to herself, “Oh.”

As she turned to leave with Sophie, she heard the moans.

“God, Annie.”

“Ummmmmm….”

“I love you …. so much…. _God_.”

“Jeeeffff….”

And then the creaking started. Dorie’s eyes widened. She whispered to Sophie as she scurried downstairs, “We’ll just leave your parents to it, shall we?”

 

 

 

 


	24. Child Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie and Jeff try to clarify their relationship

“Hold still. You’re not making this any easier.”

“Jeffrey, it’s just bath time. Please don’t make it into any more of a struggle than it already is.”

“Mom, this is impossible. I don’t know what I’m doing. What if I can’t get the soap out?”

“Dear, I’m sure it will be fine. Do what I said. Just don’t submerge him.”

Jeff huffed as he looked at Sophie’s bear, half wet with suds forming on his fur. He scrunched up his face in frustration.

“I kind of want to dunk him right now. I’ll throw him in a bowl or something. That’ll get the suds out.”

“You will do no such thing. You used too much soap. And if you get him too wet then it will take him longer to dry. Much, much longer.”

“I could throw him in the dryer.”

“Jeffrey! No! He could fall apart. It’s much safer to let him air dry.”

“Can I use a hair dryer?”

There was a pause on the line as Dorie considered the question. She then replied, “I suppose. But keep checking to see if his fur gets crunchy.”

Jeff scrubbed a particular sticky spot and frowned. “What do I do if it’s crunchy?”

“Then you’ll need more water.”

“But not too much water?”

“Right.”

Jeff sighed loudly. “Christ, mom. I need to get this furry guy cleaned up and dry before she notices he’s missing and freaks out again.”

“She’ll be fine, dear. You said Annie’s at work. So where is Sophie right now? She isn’t watching you do this? It’s not her naptime….”

“She naps with her bear, mom. That’s why I need to get this done _before_ naptime. I have her distracted right now.” He paused with his scrubbing and pursed his lips. “If Annie were here, this would be easier. But nooo, the hobmonster had to get _jam_ in his fur. Sticky, sticky _jam_. _Jam,_ mom…”

Dorie replied evenly, “I’m aware of the situation, dear. How’s it coming?”

Jeff frowned as he dabbed the bear once more with a clean damp cloth. “The suds situation is definitely better.”

“Great. Keep doing that.”

“This is going to take forever.”

Suddenly there was a loud _thump_ from the living room, followed by squeals.

“Jeffrey! What was that? And who else is there? That doesn’t sound like Sophie.”

Jeff let out a loud sigh. “Just a sec, mom. I have three kids in the apartment right now.”

“Three?!?”

Jeff opened the bathroom door. He walked down the hallway, cradling the phone on his shoulder.   He remarked dryly, “Yeah, two weirdos from school are here watching Sophie while I do this. _Technically_ , they aren’t children, but let me tell you…” He stopped abruptly as he entered the living room.

He stared at Troy, who was upside down, hanging off the couch.   Abed was doing a handstand on the other side of the room, eerily motionless. Sophie was sitting on the couch next to Troy’s feet, giggling in delight.

Troy was squealing.

Jeff grimaced. “Kids! Whatever you are doing, can you make sure not to break my stuff? And this is of vital importance, and I shouldn’t need to say this, but this one here,” he pointed to Sophie, “is _not_ to be broken. I repeat. _Not to be broken_.”

Troy stopped squealing and tilted his head up so he could see Jeff. He smiled broadly. “Aww, Jeff, we’re not gonna break her. She’s fine.”

_“Dee dee!”_

Jeff raised his eyebrows and stilled for a moment. It had not escaped his notice that Sophie had been calling him something different ever since Christmas. Jeff strongly suspected the change had something to do with Sophie hearing Sam call his father _daddy_ repeatedly during the holiday. And Jeff was realizing Sophie was very observant.

So far he didn’t think Annie had overheard it, but if she had she hadn’t mentioned it.

Not that he wanted her to mention it.

_It’s probably easier if we just don’t mention it._

He patted Sophie gingerly on the head. “Keep an eye on them. I’ll be back soon.”

Sophie smiled and clapped her hands. _“Doy! Bed!”_

Jeff took another glance over at Abed in puzzlement and then went back into the bathroom.

“Well those man children are certainly keeping the munchkin busy. I think she’s actually babysitting them.”

“Man children?”

“Troy and Abed. They’re in our study group. I figured they were the best ones to keep an eye on her, well supposedly at any rate, while I did this. Pierce would do something _terrible_ , Britta might be okay but it all depends on her chemical state, and Shirley has her hands full with her own kids. And I’m not having her kids here.” He paused and moved his eyes back and forth before adding, “Although now that I think about it, maybe there wouldn’t be much difference.”

“I’m glad you have friends, dear. And Annie will be impressed you handled this sticky situation with the bear all by yourself.”

“I’d hardly say I’m doing it myself. I’m talking to you.”

“But you know when to do research. That’s half the trick.”

“Thanks, mom.”

After successfully unstickifying the bear and letting his mom go, Jeff turned on the hair dryer. A few minutes later he combed out the fur and nodded to himself.

_Not bad_.

On his way to the living room, he tossed a small bin of Sophie’s dirty clothes in his washing machine and turned it on, remembering how he had seen Annie do it. He was feeling better these days that Annie was no longer dragging her laundry to the laundromat two blocks from Dilodopolis. It was one of the perks of his apartment he used to convince Annie to spend more time there, and he noticed she seemed more at ease the second half of winter break in taking advantage of it.

He paused as he glanced at the baby laundry detergent and other supplies near the washer. Bending down with a squint, he saw three piles of laundry preparation materials, all marked with pink labels. One of the labels read, “stain remover.” This label was affixed to the bottle of stain remover, which had an existing store label.

Jeff smiled to himself and then shook his head. He mumbled, “Annie, Annie. There should be a _jam remover_.”

He stood and made his way to the living room.

“Here you go, oh sticky one. Your bear has returned from the spa.” He tossed the extra fluffy bear on Sophie’s lap.

**************************

“I need to take Sophie to the pediatrician for her eighteen month check up this afternoon.” Annie looked up at Jeff as she wiped down the table.

Jeff nodded and placed Sophie down on the floor. She toddled off toward the living room.

“Is that a big deal? Shots or something?”

She grimaced and nodded. “Yeah. She needs her DtaP booster.”

“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds painful.”

Annie sighed. “She won’t like it. But she’ll be fine. I’m sad though, her doctor moved away so there’s someone new in the clinic. I hope he or she’s okay.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Annie nodded. “She’ll probably be extra tired and crabby afterward. We should take her mind off it later.”

“Okay. I’ll meet up with you after I’m done with work. I have to get some stuff done for Ted.”

Annie smiled. “I’m glad you’re still working for him even after you broke up with Alan.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Yeah, who would have thought the world wouldn’t come to an end if I stopped indulging that jerk?”

Annie walked over to him and stretched herself on her tiptoes so that she could place a kiss on his cheek. She dropped her feet back down to the floor and said, “You mean you didn’t miss him on New Year’s Eve?”

Jeff wrapped his arms around her waist and smirked. “I spent my New Year’s Eve the way I should have last year. Exclusively with you.”

“Being lame. Like last year.”

“Yeah. But see this year there was no Troy.”

“True. But you had him over here the other day anyway. That was sweet, Jeff. He and Abed had a nice time with Sophie.”

“Yeah yeah. They tried to teach her about blanket forts, but she just wanted to roll around in the blankets. Which, unsurprisingly, seemed just fine with them.”

*********************

Jeff stood in front of the bathroom mirror and frowned. He took a look at his scruff with a wistfulness, running his hand over it for a moment. He was a little upset he needed to shave it off per Mark’s recommendation as they prepared to meet with a particularly fastidious client tomorrow. Jeff remembered how he used to be clean-shaven most of the time for jobs like this, taking particular care to present himself as well groomed as possible.

But that was before Greendale. And Annie. She let him know on many occasions how much she liked his _handsome hobo_ look. And he was finding that he kind of didn’t mind it. It certainly saved him time in the mornings, although he needed to keep it a decently carefully scruffed look. That took some time.

At least he planned to regrow it before the new semester started. He’d stop shaving it again after tomorrow, or maybe at most with this client, three days. He hoped Annie wouldn’t be too disappointed. At least he had already warned her.

Jeff reached for the can of shaving cream and shook it. He dispensed a gob in his hand and then began to spread it evenly over his chin and neck.

_“Dat?”_

Jeff startled and looked down to see Sophie standing next to him. She was pointing at the can of shaving cream. She broke out in a fascinated grin and let out a shriek, pointing at his face.

“Is she okay? She’s with you?” Annie’s voice called out from the other room.

“Yeah. I was going to shave. But she’s here.”

“I’m in the middle of this recipe. Can you stop and watch her for a few minutes?”

Jeff watched as Sophie attempted to climb on top of the closed toilet seat.

He called out, “Got it.”

He reached down and picked her up, placing her in a seated position on the vanity.

“Don’t move.”

_“Dat?”_

“Beard. Shaving cream. I’m going to shave.”

Sophie yelled, _“Dee dee?”_

Jeff cringed at the volume. “What? And shhhh….”

_“Fee baahd.”_ She pointed to her chin and began to stroke it.

Jeff’s eyes widened and he let out a quick laugh. “Jesus. Noooo, _SoFee_ does not have a beard.”

Sophie looked crestfallen. _“Fee?”_ She pointed weakly at the can of shaving cream and then back at her face.

Jeff squinted at her. “Oh Christ. Look, just watch me.” He reached over for his razor and began to move it over his cheek.

Sophie pointed to the can again. _“Fee?”_

Jeff stopped and sighed. “Fine. But don’t tell mommy.” He shoved the can up on a shelf and grabbed a bottle of shower soap. He poured some into his hand, worked up the lather, and then spread it on Sophie’s face.

She was delighted.

“There.” He turned to resume his shave.

_“Fee?”_ She pointed to his razor and then back at her face.

He ignored her and resumed his shave. He then saw her grab something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned his head to see her running a toothbrush - _his toothbrush_ – over the suds on her face.

“Oh come on.”

“Here, I can get her out of your way. Sorry about that….” Annie stopped and stared at the sight of them, Jeff obviously pausing mid-shave and Sophie happily mimicking his movements as she sat on the vanity.

“Oh my god, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”

“Annie….”

_“Mama!”_

“I need to go get my phone. Hold her still!”

“Annie!”

“I’m so sending a picture to your mom!”

“Annie!”

**********************

By the end of winter break, Jeff’s scruff had begun to fill in. Sophie seemed particularly interested in this development, grabbing at his face whenever she got the chance.

And she kept eyeing his new toothbrush.

Jeff looked down at her, “Watch it, baby hobbit.”

She giggled.

“Annie, are you ready? We need to get going.”

Annie stood in the doorway. “Since when are you the one who’s eager to get to class?”

Jeff groaned as he bent down to pick up Sophie. “I’m not. It’s just I need to get to the cafeteria early if I’m going to beat Leonard.”

“Beat Leonard to what?”

“That’s between me and Leonard.”

Annie nodded and suppressed a smile. “Okay, Jeff. I need to meet with the Dean anyway to go over my duties for my new job. He says I can bring Sophie with me for the orientation. We’ll meet you in the study room.”

**********************

“Yes, you heard me right. I have stopped drinking. Mainly due to the fact that I could no longer get an erection. Now that I’m on the wagon, you can expect both this class and my penis to be more focused and rewarding.”

Annie’s eyes widened and she exchanged looks with Jeff who merely shrugged. Pierce appeared to be barely listening, as he was still mumbling with Troy, who was looking increasingly pained. Abed nodded thoughtfully at Professor Duncan’s comments. Shirley grabbed her cross and muttered something to herself.

Britta winced and slunk down in her chair, her face reddening.

Professor Duncan briefly met her gaze.

She then threw her head forward so that her hair was in her face.

As Professor Duncan droned on, he began writing _penis_ on the board.

Jeff rolled his eyes and glanced down at the useless Anthropology textbook Annie insisted he bring to class this time. He peeked underneath it at the other textbook he was carrying, titled “Child Development.” Although he didn’t have high hopes for a Greendale class, he dared hope he might learn _something_.

Not that he would admit that to anyone, of course.

Suddenly Rich Stephenson walked in and waved to Annie. Annie scooted her chair over toward Jeff slightly and waved back. She patted the empty chair on her other side. “Rich! Over here!”

Rich grinned and plopped down next to her.

Jeff turned and stared.

“Rich, what are you doing here?” Annie giggled slightly.

Jeff could have sworn he saw her blush.

Rich turned his full attention to her. “Hey, Annie! You made this class sound like so much fun. I thought I’d sign up.”

Annie blurted out, “That’s so great! Jeff, isn’t that great?”

Rich leaned his head over to meet Jeff’s gaze. He exclaimed loudly, “Jeff! So good to see you again! Isn’t it crazy? I’m Sophie’s new pediatrician!”

He extended his hand across Annie to Jeff.

Jeff stared at the hand.

Rich nodded and moved his hand back to his side.

There were various awwws from students nearby. And mumblings consisting of variations on, _He’s a pediatrician! I heard he’s board certified!_

Jeff continued to stare at both of them. He then grit his teeth and remarked evenly, “Rich.”

Rich grinned and then turned to greet neighboring students.

Annie leaned toward Jeff and whispered, “I’m sorry, is this awkward?”

“Awkward? Why would it be awkward?”

“I know you don’t like him. I remember pottery class.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I don’t care.”

Annie’s face reddened slightly. She fanned the air with one hand. “I was so surprised when we went in for her check up. And I only mentioned I was taking this class. I never thought he’d enroll in it.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows as he gripped his textbooks with both hands. “Why didn’t you tell me he’s her new doctor?”

“I didn’t think it was that important. Plus I knew you’d be upset.”

“I’m not upset.”

Annie sighed. “He’s a good doctor. Sophie likes him.”

“Well whoop-dee-doo. That’s frickin’ fantastic.”

****************************

As the day went on, more developments came to light. Shirley came clean with the group regarding her pregnancy, and Andre made efforts to ingratiate himself with all of them. Annie stood by Shirley, holding her hand and in general looking on very sympathetically.

Jeff was suspicious of Andre, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He still couldn’t get past how the asshole had treated Shirley.

And Jeff Winger did not have patience for assholes.

His eyes swept to Rich, who for some reason was now being auditioned for a spot in their study group. Jeff maintained an inner groan, realizing that he had let this whole thing get too far. He had insisted to Annie he didn’t care about Rich being Sophie’s new doctor, but he knew Annie knew he _did_. And then she became irritated with his denials and accused him of being jealous.

_“I’m not jealous, Annie. I don’t care.”_

_“I’m not interested in him romantically, Jeff.”_

_He scoffed. “I know.”_

The thing was, he was kind of jealous. He was pretty sure Rich was flirting with Annie, and he knew Annie liked the attention. Not that he thought she’d cheat on him, but it was sickening. And the thought of that smug jerk taking care of Sophie made his stomach churn. And Annie going to him for doctorly advice, and Rich being all doctorly and reassuring. And smug.

_Screw this. I’m getting Quendra. That’ll show her._

In retrospect, it was a pretty stupid thing to do. But Jeff was still learning how to handle emotions like an adult.

Annie balanced Sophie on her hip and rolled her eyes at Quendra.

Much to Annie’s satisfaction, shortly thereafter Quendra was driven off by a likely indecent proposal from Pierce.

And then Jeff doubled-down and brought in Chang.

_Oh god, Chang._

Annie handed Sophie off to Abed as she turned to face Jeff.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh I’m serious, baby. I am Yahoo Serious.”

He broke out in a Winger Speech to bring it all home. And to make sure Rich would not be voted into the group.

….”I only know one thing.” He gestured at Rich, “Nobody is this good a person.” He turned toward Chang, “And nobody can get any worse than this.”

It was a good speech, but alas due to Pierce’s ill-timed comments regarding the potential paternity of Shirley’s baby, all chaos broke loose. Andre stormed off and Shirley followed.

As Rich turned to leave, he said, “Annie, I should probably go. And maybe I shouldn’t be Sophie’s pediatrician anymore.” He gave a worried look at Jeff before taking off.

Annie followed him.

About fifteen minutes later, Jeff was startled as Annie entered the men’s room. She confronted him near the sink.

“I’ve had enough of men being possessive of me when it suits them.”

“I’m nothing like Adam.”

“Right. You’re better than this, Jeff. You have to trust me and stop acting like a jerk.” She narrowed her eyes as she asked, “Who the hell is Quendra?”

Jeff rolled his eyes and leaned his back against the sink. “Oh please. Nothing is going on between Quendra and me. She’s just very friendly. I only brought her in there to get votes from Troy and Pierce. And you’re one to talk. You’re flirting with Rich.”

Annie scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I am not! _He_ may have been flirting _with me_ , but I explained to him before the mixer that you and I were involved. And he apologized. But he said he’d still like to be in our study group.”

“Oh I’m sure he does,” Jeff remarked sardonically.

“Until you scared him off. And now he doesn’t want to be Sophie’s doctor anymore. He’s a good doctor, Jeff.”

Jeff crossed his arms and took a deep breath. He then said emphatically, “I don’t think he should be Sophie’s doctor. I don’t like it. He’s probably a serial killer.”

Annie narrowed her eyes. “ _You_ don’t get to decide who is Sophie’s doctor. I’m her mother.”

Jeff sighed. “Annie, my relationship with Sophie is more complicated than that. I think we should discuss it, but preferably not in the men’s room.”

Annie eyed him defiantly, puffing out her chest. “I’m going to talk to Rich and ask him to be Sophie’s pediatrician again. You’ll just have to deal with it. Nothing complicated about that.”

She turned and walked out.

A minute after Annie stormed off, Britta entered. She ranted at Jeff something about Shirley and Andre, but Jeff wasn’t really listening. He excused himself and left her there.

He passed by Neil on his way out

***********************

Jeff stood outside next to Andre on the library steps. He sighed wearily as he wondered how to begin to address the day’s events with Annie.

They watched as the rain came pouring down and mused on some topics regarding women and change.

Andre sighed, “The love of a good woman makes anything possible. Looks like I’m gonna be a daddy again.”

Jeff murmured, “Yeah but…”

\--“Hey. It doesn’t matter who the baby’s father is. I’m in it for the long haul.”

They shared a chuckle. Jeff felt a weight of some sort lift from him, but he couldn’t really understand why. Andre punched Jeff lightly on the shoulder and walked back inside.

As Jeff stood there, Abed came up to him. He held his cell phone.

“Annie texted me saying she was going to talk to Rich.”

Jeff nodded slowly. He knew he had been a jerk. What did it matter if Rich was Sophie’s pediatrician? But he was realizing he wanted more of a say in what happened with Sophie. And he wanted to know where Annie stood with the situation. And maybe that was the point of the whole thing.

It didn’t have anything to do with Rich.

He remarked absentmindedly, “Cool.”

Abed continued, “She says she talked it over with him and they both decided he won’t be Sophie’s pediatrician anymore. She says it was upsetting to you, and she wanted to respect your feelings. She says she went back to her place. She thinks you’re mad at her.”

Jeff felt like an ass.

Impulsively, he took off, running in the rain. He made his way to Dildopolis, not knowing how long it took him to get there. He grimaced at a bewildered Thanos, who backed away as Jeff ran up the steps to Annie’s apartment.

He took a deep breath and then knocked on the door.

Annie opened it and regarded him in shock.

Jeff stammered, “Annie, I am so sorry. I’ve been an ass. I’ve known you for almost two years now, you and the hobster. You are the strangest, coolest, most genuine person I’ve ever met. And your baby hobbit is the sweetest, stickiest, most adorable little creature I’ve ever known. And the thing that scares me about both of you is how good you guys make me wish I was.”

“Jeff…”

“I was scared, thinking you wanted to be with Rich. I’m not that good of a person, Annie.”

Annie let the tears begin to flow down her face. “You don’t think you’re a good person? You thought I was going to _replace you_ with Rich?”

“I don’t know. Please, Annie. I love you.”

“I love you too, mister.”

He relaxed slightly and leaned in the doorway. “I don’t care if Rich is Sophie’s doctor. I really don’t.”

Annie wiped her face and sniffed. “I should have talked to you about it.”

“No, you didn’t have to. You’re her mother.” He shrugged as he added, “I’m just, I dunno. Somebody.”

“You’re more than somebody, Jeff. You know that. Sophie knows it too.”

They stared at each other for several moments.

Annie broke the silence with a weary smile. “Please come in and take a hot shower. I think Sophie would like to play with you before bedtime. And you’re not getting her all wet.”

************************

A couple days later, Jeff was beginning to calm down. He and Annie appeared to have smoothed things over, and she and Sophie had resumed spending time at his place. While they hadn’t really _talked_ about what had transpired, there seemed to be an implicit understanding that they were fine, and that perhaps Jeff did have reason to weigh in on some decisions with Sophie. And he agreed, against his former pettiness with Rich, that having Rich as Sophie’s pediatrician made sense, and if Sophie liked him she should continue to see him.

He may have volunteered to accompany Annie on the next visit though.

Annie rolled her eyes.

And Annie had started working for the Dean, replacing Agnes as his assistant after she retired during the winter break. Annie was pleased with this development, explaining to Jeff that she had been worried about how she was going to continue working when Nancy moved to daytime shifts sometime during the year.

“I didn’t realize that was going to happen. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to bother you.”

“But you’ve been concerned about it. God, Annie. You must have been really worried.”

“Maybe. But look, it’s all worked out. I can quit my job, go work for the Dean, and Sophie can spend more time at the daycare center. The Dean’s offering me a deal on that. And I won’t have to work weekends.” Annie grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze while she smiled.

Jeff sighed. “I can be with Sophie during some of that, you know. Especially if it’s going to be like half a day or something. If I don’t have class that is. No use paying for it if I’m available.”

Annie eyed him curiously. “Really? You’d spend more time with her?”  
  
“Of course. Jesus, Annie. I know how much you worry about money. There’s no point in you working that much _with the Dean_ if you’re just going to spend the money you earn on daycare. Plus I remember being in daycare when I was a kid. I always wanted to escape.”

Annie swatted his shoulder.

So they worked out a plan, at least for the time being, with Jeff picking up Sophie when he was free for larger blocks of time.

Jeff was walking over to the daycare when he was approached by Ian.

“So how’s the latest Anthropology diorama coming?” Ian wiggled his eyebrows.

Jeff stopped and groaned. “Why the hell did you stop drinking anyway?”

“I thought you didn’t want me showing up at your place inebriated.”

“I don’t. But I didn’t expect you to actually give up booze and start to _teach_. And assign us a ridiculous number of dioramas.”

“You looked at the syllabus then?”

“I did. You suck.”

Ian chuckled. “I had to do it, my boy. My John Thomas wasn’t up to the task, and he needs to be nurtured.”

“Oh god, please do not talk to me about nurturing your penis.”

Ian shrugged. “Fair enough. We should do something, my friend. I regret I can no longer join you at the Dirty Cowgirl, but maybe we would grab dinner?”

Jeff eyed Ian incredulously. “Yeah. I guess. But not tonight. I have to get the munchkin and then I have plans with Annie.”

Ian grinned. “Excellent. I can’t tonight either, but we’ll figure out another time.”

Jeff squinted at him. “Wait…since when do you have plans? Are you seeing my mom tonight? Or is it your make believe Buzz Light Year friend?”

Ian slapped Jeff on the back. “Neither. I have mezzanine tickets to a very hip sounding musical event.”

“Newsflash Ian. If you say hip you’re not hip.”

Ian laughed and walked away, calling out, “I’ll be in touch!” 

***********************

Jeff opened the door to the daycare center. He glanced around, looking for Jackie. A woman he had never seen before approached him and smiled.

“Hi, I’m Natalie.”

“Jeff. Where’s Jackie?”

“She’s sick today. I’m subbing for her. I usually work the morning shift.”

“Ah. I only come here in the afternoons.”

She nodded. “Well pleased to meet you. Which one is yours?” She gestured toward the back room as they approached. There were various toddlers running around. Jeff guessed there were about ten of them.

_Yikes._

He sighed in relief that there were two other women present. One he recognized as Tina, and she had a child about Sophie’s age on her lap and seemed to be consoling him. The other he didn’t know but wondered if she was one of the moms working a shift. She was attempting to supervise whatever the kids were doing. He heard the whine of an infant from down the hall.

“That one. With the curls.” He pointed over to Sophie, who appeared to be engaged in some imaginative play with another little girl, a stuff hippo, and two baby dolls.

Natalie smiled as she pulled out a large binder. “Ah, Sophie. She’s such a sweetie.” She took Jeff’s ID from him and matched it to the name listed in the book. She nodded as she handed it back to him.

Jeff cupped his hands near his mouth and called out, “Munchkin!”

Sophie stopped and turned. She let out a squeal and ran toward him, stumbling a little but then re-righting herself and continuing until she reached him.

Jeff knelt down and hugged Sophie for a moment before Sophie pushed him back to show him the stuffed hippo.

“Nice. He’s very fuzzy.”

Natalie remarked cheerily as she bent down to join them, “Sophie, it’s so nice to meet your daddy.”

Sophie nodded at her and said, _“Dee dee.”_ She then grabbed Jeff’s hand and attempted to pull him over to the play area.

Jeff gulped. _Well that was confirmation._

He stood up slightly and allowed Sophie to pull him toward the other kids.   He then sat on the floor. Natalie followed them and said, “She had a good day. You should have seen her play. She’s very good at cooperative play. And she has quite the imagination.”

He watched in bewilderment as Sophie picked up one of the baby dolls and handed it to the other little girl before grabbing the remaining one.   She placed it next to the hippo and sat down in front of them with a satisfied sigh.

He remarked, “Yeah, she has a lot of stuffed animals at home. And one baby doll. But she doesn’t play with it. Of course that particular one is pretty hideous.”

“Well she loves baby dolls. Maybe she wants a little brother or sister.”

Jeff’s eyes widened as he gulped again. “Yeah. That’s not happening.”

Natalie cringed and shook her head. “Oh, I’m sorry. That wasn’t any of my business.”

Jeff closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he responded, “It’s okay.” He then changed the subject, “Hey, you said she had a good day. Anything else I should know?”

“No, she’s fine. You can take her home.” Natalie smiled guiltily and walked back over to the door.

Jeff attempted to rise but suddenly realized he was surrounded by several toddlers. They were staring at him.

One shoved a doll in his face.

Sophie yelled, _“No! Fee Dee dee!”_

 

 

 

 

 


	25. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie sees Jeff’s big heart

Annie looked in the bathroom mirror and carefully pinned the side of her hair in place. She smoothed the top with her hand and nodded satisfactorily.

_You can do this, Edison._

She practiced her bright smile in the mirror.

_You can greet people for the Dean._

_Just be cheery._

_People like to see a happy person._

She felt herself shudder for a second, recalling her mother’s voice:

_“I want to see you smile.”_

And then her father’s voice, from long ago:

_“Stop being sad. You know your mother’s in one of her moods.”_

_“I can’t handle this right now, Annie. Just pretend. It’ll be easier.”_

She took a deep breath and shook herself.

Something caught her eye on the vanity. She turned to see a small green plastic object next to the toothbrushes.

She picked it up and called out, “Jeff, what is this?”

Jeff stuck his head into the bathroom. His eyes fell on the object in her hand. “Oh that. It’s a pretend child razor. Andre helped me get it. He says the boys have them.”

“A child razor?”

“So my hobstalker can get her shave on without ruining my toothbrush.”

Annie broke out in a grin. “This is so cute.” She then looked at him quizzically as she remarked, “But you don’t shave all the time.”

Jeff shrugged. “Yeah, but I have to do it sometimes. You know, if a case comes up or something. So I just thought why not?”

Annie placed one hand on her chest and commented softly, “That’s really sweet of you.”

Jeff pushed on the doorframe and rocked side to side as he said, “I don’t want her to feel she’s not wanted, Annie. Just because I haven’t known her for her _entire_ life doesn’t mean I think she’s a nuisance or anything.” He stilled and began studying the doorframe, frowning as he eyed a smudge. 

The smile on Annie’s face vanished, and she looked at him with concern. “Jeff, I know you don’t think she’s a _nuisance_.”

He began to pick at the mark with his thumbnail. “My mom’s boyfriends never really wanted me around. I don’t want her ever, _ever_ to feel that way. So if she wants to shave with me, that’s fine.”

Annie looked down for moment, feeling her eyes water.

“Jeff, I ….”

But when she looked up he was no longer in the doorway. She took a deep breath and placed the razor on the vanity. She stood there for some moments, letting his words sink in.

_I don’t want her to feel she’s not wanted._

_My mom’s boyfriends never really wanted me around._

She wondered if little Jeff had wanted to shave.

_How did Jeff learn to shave?_

She gulped down a sob and then wiped a tear from her eye.

As she walked out into the hallway, she could hear Sophie’s giggles followed by Jeff’s teasing voice.

“Oooh….no! You did _not_ just do that to me! Ruthie will have revenge!”

“ _Dee dee! Not!”_

Annie’s eyes widened, and she stopped abruptly in the hallway. She leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes. 

***********************

It did not escape Annie’s notice that Jeff had been in a sullen mood lately. She couldn’t figure it out. She knew they had a rough patch with the whole Rich thing, but she honestly thought they had resolved that issue. Or at least Jeff told her that things were okay. But he had been acting a bit morose and she would catch him staring off with a preoccupied look.

She hoped it didn’t have anything to do with the _dee dee_ thing.

_It would be a lot easier if we don’t mention it._

_What if he doesn’t want her to call him that?_

_Should Sophie call him that?_

She was taken by surprise when Jeff took it upon himself to organize a game of Dungeons & Dragons, even after she explained she had recognized suicidal tendencies in Neil. Although Annie was aware Jeff was a softie at heart, she was still shocked he would actually be willing to play a game of D&D yet alone suggest it. But she initially chalked it up to him making some sort of connection between her past mental health struggles and Neil’s.

During the process of the game, however, it became evident that Jeff was struggling with his own guilt about contributing to the bullying of Neil. Annie was shocked to learn Jeff had been the one who coined Neil’s nickname. At the same time, she was proud that he finally admitted to it and was attempting to correct it.

Turns out the D&D game brought most of the group closer, minus Pierce, who continued to behave horribly to everyone. Neil seemed pleased with the outcome of the game and reassured everyone he was feeling much better. Although Annie was disappointed in Pierce’s behavior, she found herself worrying about him, wondering why he was behaving even meaner than usual. She couldn’t put her finger on what was going on there but told herself she’d get to the bottom of it, for she knew Pierce was a good person.

Annie and Jeff ended up going home after the game, relieved everything had worked out so well.

After she had placed her and Sophie’s overnight bags on the counter, Annie began to laugh. “You’re a huge dork, you know that? Why do I get the feeling you may have played D&D before?”

Jeff scoffed as she plopped Sophie down on her beanbag. “Me? D&D? That’s crazy, Annie. I did this for Neil. And maybe to ease my guilty conscience.”

Annie stopped laughing and walked into the living room. She watched Jeff kneeling on the floor with Sophie and softened her expression. “I’m proud of you. You did a nice thing.”

Jeff shrugged. “Yeah, well, thanks for helping.” He averted his gaze and mumbled, “And for glossing over the fact that I’m a terrible human being.”

Sophie grabbed her baby doll and hugged it. Jeff frowned.

“Jeff, you’re not…”

He met her gaze. “I almost drove the kid to do something stupid. That’s pretty unforgivable.”

“Neil forgave you.”

“He’s a better person than me.”

Annie sat down on the couch with a sigh. “Jeff, he’s okay. Everyone’s okay. And look, we all know you’ll be more mindful in the future.”

Jeff nodded solemnly. “Let’s talk about something much more interesting. Although I fear most of it will have to be _discussed_ after the munchkin is in bed.”

He carefully moved the baby doll away from Sophie, handing her the bear instead. Sophie smiled and kissed her bear, without puckering her lips.

Annie watched in bemusement as Jeff appeared to react to this, furrowing his brow in puzzlement. He touched his hand to his lips and stared at Sophie.

She cleared her throat, “What did you want to talk about?”

Jeff continued to watch Sophie for a moment and then let out a quick laugh. He moved to sit on the couch. His eyes stayed on Sophie as she toddled off to her play bin while still clutching her bear. He then turned to Annie with a smirk.

Lowering his voice, he said, “Annie, Annie, Annie. Do I have to _ask?_ Where did you learn those Hector the Well-Endowed moves?”

Annie’s felt her face redden. She began to sputter, “I…um….I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

_Why is he asking?_

“Those aren’t my moves, Annie.”

She allowed her eyes to fall on the crocheted afghan (dark pink), which was draped over the couch. She grabbed one of the edges and began to twist it.

She felt her voice quiver as she said, “I just got creative. To give the scene more authenticity.”

She shot her eyes up to his and looked for a reaction.

Jeff nodded thoughtfully, his expression unreadable. “Sure. So a blindfold, huh? We’ve never used one.”

She leaned into the couch and covered her mouth with one hand. “That was just silly. I told you, it was pretend.”

He lowered his voice to an almost whisper, “Did you want to use a blindfold sometime?”

Her face grew redder. “I …. Um… no!” She swatted his arm.

He leaned in closer to her and eyed her curiously. “Have you been reading something about that? Or talking to someone? Cause I suppose we could.”

She moved back a little and tilted her head. She ventured, her voice shaking slightly, “Did _you_ want to? I mean I’d do it if _you_ wanted to try it. But it’s not really something I need to do.”

Jeff’s eyes widened in growing comprehension. “Wait…have you done that before?”

Annie gulped, “I….”

Suddenly Sophie flung her bear at Jeff and pushed her face onto the couch near Annie.

 _“Mama, wan wawa.”_ Sophie shoved her sippy cup onto Annie’s lap.

Annie laughed nervously and then turned to Sophie. “Yes, sweetie. I’ll get you some more water.”

Jeff turned and regarded Annie suspiciously as she rose.

Sophie smiled and started to climb onto the couch. Jeff pulled her up and sat her next to him.

_“Dee dee.”_

“Hey munchkin.”

Annie looked at him and then down at Sophie. She then moved her eyes back to his, a fearful expression on her face.

Jeff smiled slightly.

He shrugged. 

********************

Annie leaned into Jeff’s side on the bed as she flipped to another page in Sophie’s baby album. Sophie was sound asleep in her room.

“And here she is with Nancy. I think she was less than ten hours old.”

“Jesus. She’s so small.”

“I know. She’s changed a lot since then.” Annie chuckled.

Jeff slowly shook his head. “I can’t believe you’ve put together all of this. It must have taken a lot of time.” He placed a kiss on her head.

Annie blushed as she looked up at him. “I want her to have it someday. I’m still adding to it. Well, I’ve started another album for her second year. I have a lot of pictures.”

Jeff smiled.   “You’re always taking pictures.” He paused before asking, “Am I in any of them?”

Annie noted his tentative expression and quickly nudged his side. “Of course you are, silly. I have all the study group members in here somewhere.”

He smiled tightly and gulped. “Oh.”

Annie quickly rubbed his arm. “And you’re in considerably more pictures than the rest of them. _Obviously_.”

He let out a breath and nodded. “Obviously.”

Annie scooted up higher on the bed and turned on her side to face him. She stated softly, “I put the shaving picture in her toddler album. I hope you don’t mind.”

Jeff seemed puzzled. “Why would I mind?”

“You seemed upset when I took it.” She bit her lip and looked at him for his reaction.

He cringed slightly and then let out a groan. “I wasn’t upset about you taking a picture. Or you putting it in an album for Sophie to look at later. I just don’t….you know, my mom and…” He closed his eyes. “You know what, never mind.”

“Jeff?”

He opened his eyes and shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m being stupid. Show me some more.”

“You really want to see these?”

He looked at her incredulously. “Of course. I never knew Sophie when she was this little. It’s like we’re going back in time. What would Abed say?”

Annie laughed as she turned a page back. “He’d love it. He’s always trying to document her anyway. Or have her document something. I’m not really sure.”

“He’s still on that thing?”

“Not as intensely, but there have been a few more inquiries lately.” She paused as she looked at the next picture. “Ooooh…here she is! Her first solo picture!”

Jeff nodded. “Ah, that’s the one you have framed in your apartment.”

“It is.” Annie beamed proudly.

Jeff frowned. “She’s all purpley and weird looking.”

“She was just born, silly. All newborns kind of look like that.”

Jeff shrugged. “I wouldn’t know that. This is entirely new territory for me.”

Annie sighed. “I know.”

Annie watched Jeff’s eyes fall on the photo next to Sophie’s newborn picture.   She commented, “That’s the first time I held her. So that’s technically her first picture.”

A grin broke out on Jeff’s face. “You look very proud. And exhausted.”

Annie narrowed her eyes. “I had just finished 20 hours of labor. It was impossible not to look tired.”

“Jesus Christ.”

She then looked at him tentatively. “Do you want to see the ones from before? Or would that be too strange?”

“Before?”

“Before she was born. I have more in here.”

“Oh, um. Sure.”

Annie bit her lip as she flipped back another page. “These were taken the last couple months before she was born.”

Annie watched Jeff’s face as he looked over the next couple pictures. He seemed to have a genuine expression of surprise.

He nodded thoughtfully. “Wow.”

Annie’s cheeks reddened as she lightly pushed a hand against his chest. “I know. I felt like a whale.”

Jeff scoffed. “You were hardly a _whale_ , Annie.” His eyes lingered on the photos as he appeared to be taking them in. He added, “But yikes. It’s like you’re _you_ but then there’s this huge blob in front.”

Annie smacked him on the arm. “Don’t say _huge_ and _blob_ when you’re describing a pregnant woman. And that blob was Sophie.”

Jeff smirked and remarked dryly, “You’re the one who said _whale.”_

Annie lifted her nose in the air and remarked, “I can say that because it’s _me_. And you’re supposed to reassure me.”

“Annie, you look beautiful.”

“Stop it.” She rolled her eyes.

“You do.” He continued to stare at the pictures.

Annie eyed him curiously. “What is it?”

He remarked thoughtfully, “I didn’t know you back then. It’s a little weird to think about it. She’s just always been _here_.”

“Since you’ve known _me._ I know. That’s why we said we were going to do this right? To show you what you missed.”

“Right.” He paused again and flipped backward to the very first picture in the album. “When was this one taken?”

“20 weeks.”

Jeff’s eyebrows rose. “That’s precise.”

Annie sighed wistfully. “It was the same week I felt her move for the first time. And I had a scan and found out she was a girl. That’s when she became _real_ to me. I’ll never forget it.”

Jeff’s eyes skimmed over the photo again and he smiled. “You look happy.”

Annie nodded. “It had been a difficult time for me but I remember when this was taken I was very, very happy. I had just told Melissa and Jacob I was going to keep her with me.”

Jeff swallowed hard. “Oh.”

“Before then I couldn’t let myself get too attached, cause I knew I’d have to give her up.”

“God, Annie…”

“I’d always loved her but that was the day I _allowed_ myself to love her.”

Annie felt Jeff kiss her head. He pulled her in closer.

Neither of them mentioned that Adam was nowhere in Sophie’s baby book. 

************************

Annie placed her hands over Jeff’s eyes as he sat at the breakfast table.

He grinned. “What?”

She mumbled into his neck, “I have a surprise for you.”

“You do? Why?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day, silly.”

“Oh.”

“Did you forget it was Valentine’s Day?”

“Of course not.”

She mumbled, “You did. You forgot.”

Jeff sighed. “Annie, I told you I’m not good at Valentine’s Day. But I didn’t _forget_. We’re going to the dance tonight, remember?”

“Right.”

“Can I have my sight back now?”

“Oh, um, yes. Sorry.” She moved her hands back.

Jeff turned to look at her with a smirk.   “So?”

Annie blushed and picked up a piece of paper from where she had hidden it on a nearby chair. “This is from Sophie.”

Jeff chuckled as he regarded the piece of pink construction paper. It was blank except for two shaky purple crayon marks.

He commented with a serious expression, “It’s a masterpiece. Best Valentine I’ve ever gotten.”

Annie nodded. “She worked really hard on it. I supervised her.”

“What does it say?”

She swatted him.

He grinned again. “Oh sorry I’ll ask her.” He turned to look over at Sophie in her highchair. “Sophie, what does this say?”

Sophie looked up from her pancakes. She shoved a piece in her mouth and mumbled, _“Mmmm.”_

Jeff nodded. “That was very informative. Thank you. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Annie took the opportunity afforded by Jeff’s distraction to run and grab something from the kitchen.

She called out as she returned, “And here’s your present from me. I hid it in the kitchen last night.” She handed him a bouquet of mixed flowers.

Jeff stiffened for a moment as he eyed the bouquet. “Oh, um, thanks.”

Annie smiled giddily and ran out of the room again. She returned with a vase. “You can put them in here. They have those little water pods on the bottom, so they’d keep over night. But we should put them in more water.” She took the flowers from him and began to prepare them for the vase.

“Annie, why did you get me flowers?”

She kept her eyes on the flowers as she continued to prepare them. “Because it’s Valentine’s Day.”

“Did you want me to get you flowers?”

“You told me you don’t do things like that. But you never said I couldn’t get _you_ flowers.” She grinned in satisfaction.

“Did you get the flowers for yourself?”

She shook her head. “What? No! That’s ridiculous!”

He squinted at her. “Is it?”

“Yes.”

“Oookay. Thank you for the flowers.”

“You’re welcome.”

Annie caught Jeff roll his eyes.

She sighed as she placed the last flower in the vase. She turned, bent down, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.   “I love you.”

He smirked against her lips. “I love you too.”

Annie rose and walked toward the kitchen. She suddenly realized she had forgotten to grab her glass. She turned and made her way back to the table, stopping before she got too near.

She watched as Jeff moved his seat toward Sophie and bent down to be near her head. She heard him lower his voice.

“Thank you for the drawing.”

_“Hi.”_

“Hi.”

Sophie grabbed a piece of her pancake and moved it toward Jeff to feed him.

He opened his eyes wide and broke out in a smile. He then opened his mouth.

As her hand moved closer, Sophie stopped and brought it back to herself. She then shoved the piece of pancake into her mouth.

Jeff bent forward with silent laughter convulsions and placed his head on the table.

_“Mmmmm.”_

He raised his head to look at her and smirked. “Happy Valentine’s Day. I love you too.”

_“Fee.”_

“Yes, Sophie.”

Annie smiled to herself and went back into the kitchen. 

*******************

Of course Valentine’s Day didn’t go entirely smoothly. There was a silly study room fight over BNL, with Jeff becoming irrationally irritated, raising his voice.

“This is a fight. We are fighting!”

Annie stared at him in bewilderment. “Jeff! You’re being ridiculous.”

“Am I?”

“What’s this really about? Is it because I got you flowers?”

Various _“oooooohhhs”_ were made by other study group members.

Pierce called out, “I knew it!”

Jeff cringed. “No, this is not about _the flowers_.”

“Then what?”

“I need some space.” He turned and walked out of the room.

In the hallway, Ian approached him with an eyebrow wiggle.

“Tonight. Liverpool are playing Manchester United.”

Jeff groaned. “I know. But it’s Valentine’s Day. I promised Annie I’d go to the Valentine’s Day dance with her. The whole study group is going too.”

Ian waived his hand in the air. “Oh come on. I’ll see you at your place at 6:30….”

Jeff sighed. “No. I’m not ditching Annie on our first Valentine’s Day together. And I thought you were seeing someone? Annie thinks so at any rate.” He looked at Ian with a frown.

Ian choked for a moment. “What? Noooo.”

Jeff eyed him suspiciously. “Didn’t you go to a concert or something? And then you spaced out on dinner, and I _know_ you weren’t at the Dirty Cowgirl cause I went there looking for you.”

Ian shrugged, staring off at far wall for a moment before he replied, “Fine. But it didn’t exactly work out.”

Jeff remarked sardonically, “Color me surprised.”

Ian suddenly and inappropriately grinned giddily as he exclaimed, “I know!” He then shifted his face to an exaggerated woeful expression. “And now I have a broken heart. _Yet again_ , Winger. And you have looove.”

“Shut up.”

Ian nodded emphatically, a grin spreading over this face. “Which is why I really need to make use of your big screen TV tonight.”

Jeff let out a long sigh. “You’re not drinking anymore?”

“Nope. That’s why I can’t watch it at a pub. Too much temptation.”

“Ian…”

“And your mum has been so kind in offering her support. She knows this is a vulnerable time for me.”

Jeff watched as Ian’s brown eyes grew even larger behind his glasses.

Jeff groaned. “Okay. I’ll probably regret this.” He let out another long sigh. “You can watch the game at my place. But I will not be there. And no snooping. I’m locking my bedroom.”

“Fair enough.” Ian slapped Jeff on the back. He added with a hearty laugh, “If things go horribly awry tonight though, feel free to join me.”

“Yeah, I think I have incentive now to make sure things don’t.” 

****************************

The Valentine’s Dance, as Jeff suspected, was lame. He had memories last year of a fight with Michelle and some ridiculousness with Britta and a drunken text message. He shuddered, realizing how far he had come.

He had Annie Edison in his arms. She was amazing. And she had even overlooked his _Barenaked Ladies_ freak out from earlier. He could almost feel her smiling against his chest.

“Hmmmmmm….”

Jeff smirked and looked down. He placed a kiss on top of her head. “Are you humming? Or cooing?”

“Let me have my moment.”

He laughed. “Okay.”

In the end, he supposed the dance wasn’t _too lame_. He had a pretty decent time dancing with Annie. And they perhaps enjoyed a nice make out in the hallway. That is until they were interrupted by a distraught Troy and an unreadable Abed.

“She called you weird!” Troy exclaimed to Abed.

“I am weird,” Abed replied evenly.

After a brief exchange, the duo embraced.

Jeff watched in bewilderment. He turned as he heard Annie sniff.

She uttered softy, “They are so adorable.”

He looked down at her in puzzlement. “Huh?”

She grabbed his hand and whispered, “Come on. Let’s get back to the dance and give them some privacy.”

Jeff frowned but allowed her to pull him toward the music.

Abed said to Troy, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“It is now.” Troy grinned and pulled Abed into a tighter hug. 

***********************

“That was a kickass party, Annie.”

“You’re mocking me. I had fun.”

“I had fun too. Just don’t tell anyone.”

Annie turned to look up at Jeff. She crinkled her eyes as she replied, “Who would I tell? The study group? I think there was more than enough drama to go around tonight rather than them all realizing that you have a heart.”

Jeff remarked dryly, “Yeah, Britta almost got lucky.   I would have paid to see that.”

Annie swatted him. “I’m sure you would have! Don’t make fun of her.”

Jeff moved a sleeping Sophie a little higher on his shoulder. “Why not? She thought Paige was a lesbian. Yet she didn’t want to have sex with her. She just wanted to be seen with her. And turns out Paige had the same motivation. I think there’s _plenty_ there to mock.”

Annie shook her head as the elevator doors opened to Jeff’s floor. They exited and made the trek down the hall.

Annie remarked wearily, “I’m worried about Pierce.”

“He’s fine.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve been telling all of you for weeks. I think he’s developed an addiction to painkillers.”

Jeff sighed. “He’s recovering from _broken legs_.”

“They aren’t broken anymore. And he’s acting so strange.”

“It’s _Pierce._ ”

Annie shook her head as she began to fish her keys out of her purse. “He’s defensive. And he disappeared. He’s not answering any of my texts.”

“That’s because he lives in the Stone Age. He doesn’t text.”

“Yes he does.”

“Huh?”

They arrived at the door.

Annie pursed her lips in frustration. “I’m going to hunt him down tomorrow.”

“Annie…”

She opened the door. They entered, hearing the drone of a television set.

Annie gasped. “Is Professor Duncan still here?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Annie jogged into the living room and shut off the television so as not to wake Sophie.

Jeff gave Sophie a kiss as she squirmed on his shoulder. He adjusted her in his arms and then turned to take in the sight of Ian Duncan asleep and sprawled out on the couch. There were three empty beer bottles on the coffee table. Chang was curled up on the other end of the furniture, slumbering peacefully.

“What the hell?!?”

“Jeff, shhhh!” 

***********************

The next day, Ian explained his sobriety had been a ‘false alarm,’ while also blaming Chang for bringing over beer. Jeff sighed, running his hand through his hair as he sat across the table from Chang.

“Goddammit. Why are _you_ here?”

Chang looked up meekly from his cereal. “I’m homeless, Jeff. My wife found out about Shirley. She kicked me out for good this time.”

Annie sat on Chang’s other side. As she cut up Sophie’s egg, her mouth began to form the beginning of an ‘awwwww.’

Jeff cut her off. “Annie!” He turned back to Chang. “No! You’re leaving after breakfast.”

Chang slouched and hung his head. “Fine.”

Annie opened her eyes wide. “Jeff!”

“What?!?”

“He’s _homeless_. _I’ve_ been homeless.”

Ian startled at this information and looked up from his cereal. He pushed his glasses up further on his nose and watched Annie and Jeff with curiosity.

Jeff closed his eyes and grimaced. “This is different. This is _Chang_. And need I remind you there are four _hermit crabs_ in the bathroom.”

“But Jeff…”

Jeff shook his head. “We have a small child. She’s not getting near hermit crabs. Or Chang.”

Chang looked crestfallen.

Sophie yelled, _“Dang!”_

Annie stiffened, her eyes getting even wider as she replayed in her head what Jeff had just said. She then bit her lip and replied evenly, “Well, then where do you suggest he goes?”

Jeff affected a cocky pose. “Well…”

She narrowed her eyes and interrupted him, “Think carefully before you answer that.”

Jeff stilled for a moment. His eyes then swept to Ian.

Ian opened his mouth. “Oh hell no!”

“You have an apartment.”

“Well, yes, _technically_.”

“And you don’t have roommates. Or pets. Or children. Or hygiene. You’re the perfect solution.”

Ian cleared his throat. “Well what about Annie? Doesn’t she have an apartment she’s not using? She lives here now.”

Annie’s face turned pink as she glanced over to Jeff and then back at Ian. She sputtered, “I….I don’t _live_ here. I’m just here sometimes. Chang can’t live in my apartment. It’s way too small. And again, Jeff’s point about Sophie and the hermit crabs….”

Jeff eyes locked sympathetically on Annie’s for a moment. He then waived his hand in the air and turned to Ian. “The easiest solution would be if you let him live with you, temporarily.”

Chang looked at Ian pitifully.

Ian scrunched up his face in disgust. “But he broke my nose!”

“I’ve Chang-ed.”

“Oh bloody hell!

Suddenly, Annie and Jeff’s phones both buzzed. Jeff grabbed his and read the text.

“What is it?” Annie asked as she reached for her phone.

“Christ. Pierce is in the hospital.”

***********************

In the end, everything turned out okay. Not only was Chang able to temporarily move in with Ian, but Pierce was alive.

After some frustrating mind games, with one particularly outrageous moment between Jeff and Pierce, the group discovered that Pierce was not in fact going to die either. At least not likely anytime soon.

No one quite knew what to make of their bequeathments, but after all was said and done, they decided to put it all behind them.

Even Jeff, who ended up spending the next night curled up in Pierce’s hospital room.

Annie may have awww’d as she left with Shirley to pick up Sophie from the Bennett household.

She knew Jeff had a big heart. Big enough for all of them.

Even Pierce.

 

***********************

Jeff watched as Annie pulled her overnight bag toward the door. She then plopped a bag of Sophie’s clean laundry next to it.

“Annie, why are you taking all that stuff home?”

“Hm?”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “You can leave stuff here, you know. It’s stupid to move it back and forth.”

Annie kept her eyes on the bags and nodded thoughtfully. “You mean like the carseat situation?”

“Precisely.”

She looked over to him with a weak smile. “I don’t want to put you out. Or mess up your place.”

Jeff groaned and ran his hand over his face. “Goddamn it. Have I ever been defensive of you guys being here? Have I ever said that I didn’t want you here?”

Annie shuffled over to him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

She mumbled into his chest, “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to screw this up.”

He ran a hand through her hair and closed his eyes. “I think we’re doing okay. I mean I have how much hobbity stuff here now? And it’s been here for a while and that hasn’t been a problem. You can keep other things here. I’ll make some room.”

She looked up at him. “Room?”

He opened his eyes and stated, “Yeah, I’ll clean out part of my closet. And of course we can set something up in the study for Sophie’s things.”

“So we can keep some clothes here?”

“Duh. It’ll be easier. And that way you don’t have to carry all that crap with you.”

“You’re sweet. Thank you.” As she turned her head to the side, her eyes fell to the pink construction paper Valentine from Sophie, affixed with a magnet on Jeff’s fridge.

She smiled genuinely to herself and relaxed.

 


	26. Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff have a fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some angst, dear readers. But don’t fret!
> 
> First part was previewed the other day on tumblr

Annie hummed as she twirled her Greendale office chair 360 degrees, stopping when she returned to her anthropology textbook. She leaned her arm on the desk and frowned as she reviewed an info graphic on ‘Stages of Man.’

_That might make an interesting diorama._

Her phone buzzed. She grabbed it and read the text.

[Jeff]: thanks for your “message” --- to answer: Hanro

Blushing, she replied.

[Annie]: stripes or solid bold?

Almost immediately, her phone buzzed.

[Jeff]: BOLD, baby. but i’m not telling u the color.

[Annie]: why are u so mean to me? :(

[Jeff]: patience. unless u send me another pic   ;)

Annie’s face grew red. She scrolled up to the image she sent earlier. In it she was covering her face with her hand but showing her pink lace bra strap. And she was sitting at her desk outside the Dean’s office.

Before she could reply, her phone buzzed again.

[Jeff]: and maybe u could be BOLD ;)

She pursed her lips and began typing furiously.

[Annie]: u have some nerve! i’m a proper academic assistant! <scandalized face>

There was a delay before Jeff replied.

[Jeff]: are proper assistants allowed visitors?

Her eyes widened.

[Annie]: um, not those kind of visitors. the dean is here, remember?

[Jeff]: i’m not that worried

[Annie]: don’t!!!

[Jeff]: but im almost there

[Annie]: nooooooooo

She slammed her phone on the desk and looked around frantically.   At that moment, the Dean popped his head out of his office.

“Annie, would you mind looking over the new course catalogue? I swear, I don’t know how to make “Ladders” sound more enticing. The enrollment has been surprisingly sparse over the past two semesters. It’s like Greendale students aren’t even wanting to reach for higher standards.”

Annie turned to him and flashed her trademark megawatt smile.

She spoke in a slightly higher voice than usual as she replied, “Of course, Dean. Maybe we could speak to the importance of _steps_?”

The Dean looked at her in amazement. “Well, now that’s a thought! See Agnes would never have thought of that!”

Annie’s phone buzzed again. She glanced down at it, her eyes widening as she read the text.

[Jeff]: im coming to the outer door. i have something very important to show u

She quickly typed,

[Annie]: stop!!!! dean is here

[Jeff]: hes the one who suggested i show you … he wants to be there

_Now he’s going too far!_

_Stupid Handsome Hobo._

Annie almost started to hyperventilate. Her eyes shot up to meet the Dean’s.

He was looking at her in puzzlement.

“What is it, Annie? Who are you texting?”

Suddenly Jeff, holding Sophie, appeared in front of the reception desk.

Annie opened her mouth in an _o_. Her faced remained a bright pink.

Jeff smirked, “I told you I was almost here. Look who I brought with me.”

_“Mama!”_

Annie let out a breath and started to laugh. “Hi sweetie.” She stood and walked to the front of the desk and took Sophie from Jeff. She gave her a kiss and then looked up at him reproachfully. “Isn’t she supposed to be in daycare?”

Jeff shrugged and replied, “Yeah but my last class was canceled so I thought I’d pick her up early.”

She glanced nervously at the Dean and smiled brightly. “That’s fine. But you can’t just bring her by here. I’m at work.”

The Dean shook his head. “Oh, Annie, that’s fine. Jeffrey and I talked it over. I told him to bring Sophie so she can show you her new outfit!”

He beamed as he waived one hand toward Sophie.

Annie looked at Sophie’s clothing for the first time and then broke out in a grin. She glanced up at Jeff. He was rolling his eyes.

Annie chuckled, “Dean! Is this a Greendale Community College t-shirt?!? And matching sweatpants! Oh my god, it’s adorable!”

The Dean squealed and clapped his hands.

Jeff remarked dryly, “Yeah, the Dean gave them to me this morning and said we should surprise you. He said it was because you’re the best assistant he’s ever had.”

The Dean mumbled, “and it’s not because I want to use her as a mascot.”

Annie turned to the Dean. “Awwww…. Thank you!”

“So I’m a good dean?”

“You are a very good dean.”

She took a moment to regard Sophie again, noticing the purple hair clips, which had not been in her hair that morning. One on each side of her head. Annie smiled as she placed another kiss on Sophie’s forehead.

Sophie began playing with Annie’s necklace.

At that moment, Andre strolled up to the desk. His face lit up when he spotted them.

“Oh hey, Annie! Jeff! It’s good to see you guys. I’m looking for Shirley but she’s not in the cafeteria where we said we’d meet. Have you seen her?”

Jeff glanced at Annie with a quizzical look. She shrugged one shoulder.

Jeff replied, “Nope. I think she’s usually in her marketing class about now.”

Andre nodded. “Yeah, but she said she was getting out early today.”

The Dean gasped. “What’s this all about classes being canceled and professors letting students out early? You’d think we weren’t running a college around here.”

Jeff opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Annie shot him a look.

Andre frowned. “Oh well. I’m sure she’ll turn up. Maybe she got stuck in there or something.” He grabbed Jeff’s hand in a firm shake. “Good to see you man. How did the razor work out?”

“Razor? I thought you waxed.”

Jeff looked at the Dean and cringed.

Andre scrunched up his face in confusion. “Why would he wax his face?”

“Oh.” The Dean slouched.

Jeff turned to Andre with a smirk. “It’s good. She seemed to enjoy it.” He gestured toward Sophie.

Andre patted Sophie on the head. “She’s so cute.”

Annie beamed. “Thank you. And she does like her razor. That was sweet of you to suggest it.”

Andre continued speaking in a soft voice, eyeing Sophie with amusement. “My boys like them. I’ve never had a girl but I figure it’s kind of the same, at least at this age, you know? They just want to look up to someone. They need role models. I wonder if the next one will be a girl. That might be really nice.”

Sophie giggled at him and then turned her eyes on Jeff.

She reached toward him and screeched, _“Dee dee!”_

Jeff’s eyes widened for a moment before he grabbed her from Annie. He hoisted her up on his shoulder and squinted his eyes at her, affecting a serious expression. “Yes, what? Did you want to shave again? Cause I need to keep my scruff going a little while longer or your mommy gets upset.” He ran his free hand over his face.

“Jeff!” Annie swatted him lightly.

Sophie started touching his chin and began to chuckle heartily.

Jeff smirked and placed a kiss near her ear.

Both the Dean and Andre exchanged surprised looks.

Andre turned to Jeff, “So she calls you _daddy_ huh? Welcome to the club.” He laughed and slapped him on the back.

Jeff exchanged frantic glances with Annie and sputtered, “Oh, um…. we’re still trying to figure out….”

A lilting voice chimed in, “Jeffrey, you’re this girl’s daddy now? Is that official? When’s the wedding?”

Jeff and Annie turned red as Shirley stood there grinning giddily while holding her comedically large purse. 

**************************

Although they were able to deflect Shirley’s intrusiveness, Annie and Jeff were realizing others would likely begin to have similar questions. They hadn’t really talked through the ramifications of Sophie’s attachment to Jeff between themselves. Things seemed to be going so well between them, they were under an implicit understanding of not talking about it. After Shirley’s question, Annie and Jeff merely exchanged the following words privately:

“Annie, please don’t freak out about what Shirley said.”

Annie rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’m not freaked out. She just doesn’t understand. I love her, but she’s just so _pushy._ ”

Jeff snorted. “That’s an understatement.” He eyed her tentatively as he ventured, “But, given the baby hobbit’s rapidly increasing verbal abilities coupled with her sheer _volume_ , we should probably, you know, um, maybe discuss what it means for our relationship if she calls me…”

Annie interjected – “Jeff!”

He finished his sentence, looking at her with annoyance, “daddy.”

Annie paled. She then spoke quickly, “Does that upset you? We can work with her to change it.”

“You know perfectly well it doesn’t upset me.”

“It doesn’t?”

Jeff let out a prolonged sigh. “Oookay.”

Annie smiled, perhaps a little too brightly. “I just wanted to make sure. I’m glad it doesn’t bother you. She looks up to you.” She patted him reassuringly on the arm.

He tensed at the patting. “So what does that mean for _other things_?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. We talked about me moving some stuff in. That’s good, right? Let’s just do that.” She continued to smile.

He eyed her incredulously. “ _Some stuff_?”

“Yes. I feel comfortable with that.”

“Fine.” 

************************

“Hey, it’ll only be a little bit and then Mommy will be done with her test and we’ll go home.”

“You’re using your dad voice.”

Jeff glanced over at Britta. He was crouched down on the student lounge floor, attempting to reason with Sophie.

“My _dad_ voice? Oh please.”

“You do have a dad voice. You use it with her a lot. Otherwise, I’ve only ever heard you use that tone with Troy and Abed. In similar situations, I might add.”

Britta smirked as she looked over to a tearful Sophie who was clutching her bear and biting on its ear.

Jeff groaned. “It’s my voice of reason. In times of over-emotionality. It’s not a _dad_ voice.”

Sophie toddled over to the door and stopped short of it. She cried softly to herself as she continued to stare at the doorway.

Jeff kept his eyes on her and sighed. He bit his lip as he rose and sat next to Britta on the couch.

“You’re not going to go get her?”

“She’ll be here in a sec. This has happened before.”

Britta nodded. She then watched as Sophie turned around and made her way over to them. She stopped in front of Jeff and looked at him sorrowfully.

Jeff’s expression softened. “You okay, munchkin?”

“ _Dee dee._ ” She reached up for him.

He pulled her up on his lap.

She nuzzled into his chest and began to suck her thumb.

Britta’s eyes widened, and she broke out in a grin. “Did she just call you daddy?”

Jeff frowned. “Britta, Britta, Britta, now where do I start with you jumping to conclusions when you…”

Britta interjected, “She did! You jackass.” She moved her head down and asked Sophie, “Who is daddy? Show me who daddy is.”

Jeff rolled his yes.

Sophie took her thumb out of her mouth and smiled at Britta. She looked up at Jeff and smacked him on the chest.

_“Dee dee!”_

Britta nodded. “And what’s my name?”

_“Tit ta!”_

Britta looked at Jeff triumphantly. “Making assumptions, huh? I used my deductive reasoning skills. I’m studying human behavior you know.”

Jeff remarked dryly, “You don’t say.”

She continued to stare at him in wonder. “So?”

He groaned again. “Fine. Yes, she’s started calling me _daddy_. Are you happy now?”

“So are you her daddy?”

“Britta. Please. This is between me and Annie.”

Suddenly Britta’s expression softened. “Have you guys talked about it? I mean Annie’s been pretty adamant to me that she doesn’t live with you. But look, if you guys are worried I’d be upset or something, I’m not. We had a stupid fling. And it was so long ago now. I just want you guys to be happy.”

Jeff kissed Sophie’s head as she squirmed in his arms. She laid her head on his chest again and resumed sucking her thumb.

Jeff closed his eyes as he said, “I don’t know what we’re doing. But trust me, any confusion has nothing to do with what happened between you and me.”

“I see.” 

***********************

Pierce, who had recently been discharged from rehab, came up to Jeff in the hallway and awkwardly punched his shoulder.

He announced with an eerie grin, “I heard she calls you daddy now. Treat that precious child right.”

“Pierce!”

But he was too late as Pierce had wandered off down the hallway into a crowd. 

***********************

Britta stood next to Annie in the ladies restroom as they both washed their hands.

“So, daddy, huh?”

Annie blushed as she shut off the faucet. “I’m sorry, what?”

Britta handed her a paper towel. “The Wing-Jerk. Sophie calls him daddy. I heard her do it earlier.”

Annie swallowed hard and looked down. “Yes she does. She just started doing it around Christmas time.”

Britta rolled her eyes. “Oh please. We all know she’s been doing it for months. I’m just glad you guys finally hear it.”

Annie’s eyes rose to meet Britta’s. “I don’t know, okay? And I don’t know what this means for me and Jeff.”

Britta shrugged. “Hey, you guys have to figure yourselves out regardless, right? And if you want to talk about it, hit me up with some wine and we’ll chat.”

Annie nodded. 

***************************

Ian scurried over to Jeff in the hallway near the cafeteria.

“Jeffrey! I’m glad I found you.”

Jeff let out his thousandth groan of the day. “Goddamn it, will everyone please mind their own business? Look, fine, _yes_. She’s calling me _daddy_. Are you happy now? Have I satisfied your gossipy needs?”

Ian appeared taken aback. “Oh my word! She’s calling you _daddy_? Well, well. Not that I should be that surprised, I guess. Your mum and I have discussed the issue at length. We both noticed the child was saying some potentially interesting things at Christmas…”

Jeff interjected, “Wait… that’s not what you wanted to talk to me about?!?”

“Well no, but now that we’re on this fascinating subject…”

“No. We’re not discussing this. Why did you approach me all earnestly?”

Ian frowned in thought for a moment before he grinned in realization. “Oooooh….that’s right! I remember! I wanted to talk to you about crabs!”

“Shhhh….keep your voice down! And what the _hell_?!?”

“Hermit crabs, my boy. We have to do something about this Chang situation.” 

**************************

Annie stood with her hands on her hips, looking up at the expanse of Jeff’s walk-in closet.

_Of course he’d prioritize a place with a walk-in closet._

_He’s so vain._

She glanced at herself in the closet mirror and smoothed out the pleats in her skirt.

She then turned her attentions to the clothing rack. Jeff had given her instructions that she could have half of the right rack, and he had already rearranged the closet so she could fit in some of her clothes. He had also cleared out a drawer for her in the dresser.

She smiled nervously, realizing this was a big step. She attempted to reassure herself that things had been going really well between them, and again this was a practical idea. She and Sophie were spending more time here, and she didn’t need to worry about bringing over clothes all the time. She already kept some toiletries in the bathroom.

_This doesn’t mean we’re moving in._

_I still have my place at Dildopolis._

She let her hand skim over Jeff’s shirts.

_What if we did move in?_

_I think he wants us to move in._

She took a deep breath and bent down to grab a dress from her bag. She carefully put it on a hanger and placed it on the clothing bar.

Sophie was napping and Jeff had run to the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner. She was glad that she had some time for herself with her confused thoughts.

_What does it mean if Sophie calls him daddy and we move in?_

_What if I mess this up and she loses another daddy?_

_He’s always been a ladies man. Is he ready for that?_

She was glad that they had avoided answering Shirley’s intrusive question the other day. Andre had been helpful in getting Shirley to calm down and give them some space. She was fairly certain from Jeff’s flustered reaction that it wasn’t something they were equipped to discuss at present. And Shirley always did focus absurdly on marriage.

_I’m so not ready for marriage._

_I’m pretty sure Jeff isn’t either._

_What would it be like to be married to Jeff?_

She began humming and continued to place items on hangers. She then spied some fabric hanging down in back of the clothing bar. She stood on her tiptoes and attempted to reach around the back of the bar. She tugged on the fabric, and then a medium-sized box came crashing down on the floor. Luckily she was able to jump out of the way at the last minute.

She looked down and spotted the box, lid off and contents strewn over the floor. Her eyes widened as she spied an assortment of objects, including two bras, one pair of red high heels, a lipstick, and several, scratch that, _many_ pairs of panties.

A dark blue lace pair was among them.

“Oh my god.” 

*********************

“I never thought you’d be able to reach that high!”

“You’re such an asshole, Jeff! I can’t believe you kept all those things! They’re like _trophies_!”

Jeff crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the ceiling. Clenching his jaw, he stated, “It was _private_. I can keep whatever I want. You’re the one who went snooping.”

Annie threw her hands in the air and then slapped them down at her side. She raised her voice, “I wasn’t snooping! And ugh! That’s besides the point. You put _my panties_ in the box! I found them!” She held up the navy blue lace panties.

Jeff continued to keep his arms crossed and affected a stern expression. He resumed eye contact with her and replied evenly, “You already knew I kept them. I thought we had an implicit understanding.”  
  
“That’s because I thought you only kept _mine_!”

He bit his lip. “What’s the difference?”

“You put _my panties_ in with all of the other women’s stuff! Like I’m _the same_! Am I the same?!?”

He scowled. “You know you’re not!”

Annie lowered her voice and stared him down. “Oh really?!? And you kept all of these things. Even though we’re together!” She gestured toward the spilled ladies’ items.

Jeff swiftly shook his head. “One thing has nothing to do with the other.”

Annie huffed. “I fail to see that.”

Jeff let out a long sigh and ran his hand over his scruff. “Annie, the only reason your panties were in the box is because we started out as friends with benefits. That’s where I put my mementos.”

“ _Mementos?!?_ ”

“Yes. And how the hell was I to know that you’d end up as my girlfriend? And just to be clear, this is not a box of disparagement. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of the encounters which are represented.”

Annie crinkled up her nose in disgust. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Would you rather have me say I hated all those women? Cause it’s not true.”

She shook her head and crossed her arms protectively. “I don’t want to think of you with all those women!”

He gasped, “Well then don’t think about it! Do you really believe I like to think about you and other guys? No! So I shut that off.”

“Oh, please. My past is nothing compared to yours.”

“But I’ve let mine go, Annie. Do I say anything when you text with Vaughn? No. Because I trust that he’s across the country in his hippie little paradise hackying or something.”

Annie furrowed her brow in confusion. “Vaughn?”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I saw a text. It came in when you were in the bathroom one time. Something along the lines of, _thanks for talking…it was really helpful…take care of yourself…lates._ ”

Annie pursed her lips. “Ugh! How long have you been holding onto this? I haven’t texted with him since October!”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Oh really?”

“Yes! Because I thought maybe that would be weird. I told him you and I were seeing each other and that maybe he should work on finding more friends in Delaware to confide in.”

“You’re still friends with him on facebook.”

“Oh please! There’s nothing wrong with that! And if it makes you feel better, he sees all the pics I post. And the ones with you. He _knows_. And again, we haven’t communicated since October. And even then, that was completely innocent. He was just going through a hard time. As you said about your _ladies_ , I view Vaughn as someone I cared about.”

Jeff grimaced. “Fine. Sorry.”

“And I don’t even believe you cared about these women. You don’t even talk to Michelle anymore. I know she broke up with you, but you two seemed to be on speaking terms near the end of last year. But now you cringe when anyone mentions her. It’s like you’re _ashamed_ or something.”

He sighed. “I don’t see why you’re bringing this up. What does Michelle have to do with _us_?”

“Will you do that to me some day? Will you just pretend that what we had didn’t matter?”

His eyes widened. “What we _had_? Goddamn it why do you always behave as if we’re going to break up?”

Annie deflected his question as she continued, “Why don’t you talk to her anymore? And why do you cringe? She wasn’t that bad.”

“Fine. Do you really want to know? She insulted you. I’m not staying friends with someone who would do that.”

Annie stilled. “She did?”

“Yes. So that’s why I _cringe_. I can’t believe I was involved with someone who I thought was a decent person. But she’s not. She’s petty and cruel.”

Annie’s face fell. “What did she say about me?”

He scowled. “It doesn’t matter. It was all nonsense anyway. But now you know.”

Annie asked softly, “Did you put something of Michelle’s in the box?”

Jeff sighed. “Of course I did.”

“What is it?”

“We are not doing this, Annie. Cut it out.”

“What about Britta?”

Jeff pursed his lips. “For your information, nothing of Britta’s is in the box. We never did it here.”

Annie grimaced and then she shook her head. “I’m sorry. You know what, let’s just forget this whole thing. Could you please just get rid of it? It really bothers me that you have it.”

Jeff let out a long sigh and stared at the ceiling. “Annie...”

She opened her eyes wide and tilted her head to the side. “Please?”

Suddenly Jeff opened his mouth. He couldn’t stop himself as the words tumbled out, “Who’s Mr. Blindfold? I find it hard to believe it was Andy. Was it the hippie? _Please_ don’t tell me it was Mr. Jackass-I’m-Ashamed-of-My-Own-Kid-Douchebag.”

Annie scoffed. “That is absolutely none of your business! Maybe moving some stuff in here was a mistake. Maybe we’re not ready for this.”

Jeff quickly walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked at her with an almost panicked expression. “Look, Annie, I’m sorry, I was out of line.”

She looked down, feeling her eyes well with tears. She then craned her head up and noted the fear in his gaze.

“Jeff, you need to let the past go.”

He nodded. “Okay. Then you have to do it too.”

 ******************

News spread throughout campus that Vice President Biden would be stopping by later in the day. The Dean had become distraught, realizing that due to previous shenanigans, there currently was no student body president.

Annie of course took it upon herself to all but declare herself president before the Dean reminded her that technically they needed to have an election.

She was cheerily hanging flyers when Jeff came up to her.

He lowered his voice to an almost whisper, “So, we’re okay, right?”

She flashed her megawatt smile at him. “Of course. Here. Put up these flyers, please?”

Jeff clenched his jaw. “Fine.”

Annie was furious when she discovered that Jeff didn’t put up her flyers. They engaged in a verbal sparring match, with Jeff insulting the political process and Annie’s naivety.

“Don’t kid a lawyer.”

“Well, if I see one I won’t.”

Jeff stopped in his tracks, a stricken expression on his face.

There were more verbal wars after Jeff entered the race. Annie was upset he was making a mockery of the process.

“No matter what you’re told, we have to clean the mold!”

The chants were almost deafening.

Jeff didn’t want to admit he was more than a little impressed with her.

“I feel a slight ego blowing in from the east.”

“You’re about to feel my foot coming in from the south.”

And he was maybe more than a little turned on. 

************************

Abed and Troy live broadcasted the entire election. Sophie sat on Troy’s lap.

“Well, Troy, I don’t know about you, but I think our special guest correspondent has something to say.”

Troy lifted Sophie a little higher. “Sophie, can you tell us your thoughts on who will win this election? Will it be Leonard, Vicki, Pierce, Starburns, Magnitude, Daddy Jeff, or Mommy Annie?”

_“Mama!”_

Abed wiggled his eyebrows and declared, “Well you have it there, folks, right from the babe’s mouth. Annie Edison has an edge with the younger crowd. We’ll be back after the next commercial break.”

As Pavel turned off the camera, Troy turned to Abed.

“Dude. Sophie can’t vote.”

“A travesty.”

Sophie handed Troy her bear and began saying something unintelligible.

Troy smiled. “Can we get her a Troy and Abed in the Morning t-shirt? This Greendale one she’s wearing is sooooo cute.”

“Only if she appears on our show.” 

***********************

Annie paled, her hand on the remote.

“I can’t do this. I’m dropping out of the race.”

She suddenly flung the remote and ran out of the room.

Jeff’s eyes shot up.

“Me too.”

He followed her.

He jogged down the hallway, peering into various rooms. He eventually found her in the storage room.

The pale legs sticking out from in back of the chalkboard were a clue.

“Annie?”

She looked up from her spot on the floor.

“Ugh! I’m a horrible person!”

“What? Why?”

“I almost went too far. I’m sorry.”

“Wait…what did you almost do?”

She sighed as she rose to her feet. She dusted off her skirt and replied, “I was this close to showing the entire school your MTV Real World audition video.”

Jeff’s eyes widened. “My whaaat?!? How did you know about that? And you have it?!?”

Annie nodded meekly. “I have my ways. And it was super corny. I thought it would cinch the election for me if I showed it.”

“I was 19!”

She sighed again, her lips trembling. “I know! I’m so sorry! I don’t know what got into me. I wanted to win so badly. But then I just couldn’t humiliate you like that.”

Jeff sighed. “Whatever. Please just promise me you’ll get rid of it.”

She nodded.

She then added, “Wait…why are you here? Shouldn’t you be running for president?”

Jeff placed his hands in his pockets and looked at her with fondness. “I dropped out after you took off.”

“Jeff, I am so sorry. I care what you think about me, you know.”

“Yeah, well I care what you think about me. That’s why this happened.”

His eyes lingered on her.

Annie gulped. “I’m sorry I was so mean to you. About the box. And about moving some stuff into your place. I’m just so confused.”

Jeff frowned. “About what?”

“I need to know. Am I like the rest of them?”

“Who?”

“Your ladies? You never stay with anyone.”

Jeff took his hands out of his pockets and placed them on her shoulders. He looked at her intently. “Annie, is that what this is about? Please, you have to believe me. Of course you’re not like the others. You have to know that by now.”

Her lip trembled. “But you don’t stay.”

“I will.”

“You can’t possibly say that. You can’t know that.”

“Fine. I can’t. But I _want_ to. And I’m pretty sure that counts for something.”

Annie looked down and began to silently cry.

“Please don’t.” He ran one hand against her cheek and then pulled her into a hug. “You’re very important to me. Look, I’ll get rid of the box. Seriously. I’ll burn it all.”

She mumbled into his chest, “Really?”

He stroked her hair and replied softly, “Yes.”

“You can keep my panties.”

He stepped back slightly to look at her. He laughed. “Done.”

She nodded, a genuine smile forming on her face. “Okay, well resolved then.”

“Resolved.”

They leaned back in, wrapping their arms around each other.

Suddenly Pierce came by with a pencil jutting out from his cheek.

“Oh my god! Pierce!” 

********************

Annie turned to Jeff as they stretched out on the bed. She reached down to grab a sheet and pulled it up and tucked it underneath her arms.

Jeff smirked. “Wow. Who knew blindfolds could be so much fun?”

She smiled demurely. “That was kind of hot.”

He licked his lips and kept his eyes on hers. “Most definitely. Although I must admit, I was a little surprised _you_ wanted to be Hector-the-Well-Endowed in this scenario.”

She laughed nervously.

He squinted. “Although now that I think about it, maybe I should have expected that.”

She laughed again and swatted him. “Well thank you for letting me blindfold you.”

His eyes twinkled as he remarked, “You’re welcome. Thank you for treating me with dignity and respect.”

Annie blushed and kissed his chest. “I’m glad we made up.”

“Annie, I think we should always make up.”

She sighed and regarded him sheepishly. “I’m sorry again I flipped out. I need to go more slowly.”

“Slowly?”

“I’ll move stuff in. But not everything.”

“That’s fine.”

“Thank you.”

Jeff sighed and moved onto his back. “Since we’re being honest. I need to say something. I probably should have told you this sooner, but oh well.”

“Told me what?”

“You’re not the only one who’s scared. The reason it bothered me when you sent the shaving picture to my mom is because you keep making decisions without consulting me. You shut me out. And then you send mixed messages. Like embracing my _mom_ as Sophie’s grandma.”

“You don’t want her to be her grandma?”

He clenched his jaw. “Goddamn it. That’s not what I meant. It’s the way you went about it. You just _decided_. But we probably should have talked about it. And we can’t even talk about the _daddy_ thing. We need to talk about it.”

Annie took a deep breath. “I’m surprised you want to discuss it.”

Jeff groaned and moved a hand over his face. “I’ve been talking it over with my therapist.”

“Oh.”

He studied the ceiling as he continued, “You send mixed messages. What do you want?”

She began to rub his chest and replied softly, “I want this to work.”

He was silent for some moments before he asked, his voice trembling slightly, “Do you want me to be Sophie’s daddy?”

Annie gulped. “Of course I do.”

He moved back on his side and regarded her seriously. “You do?”

“Yes. Do you?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes widened and she nodded. “Okay. But then I don’t know where that leaves _us_.”

He regarded her with an almost desperation. He stated emphatically, “We do _this_ then. We keep talking about things. We figure it out. And of course we can do it at whatever pace seems most comfortable. But I just need you to be all in it. Stop being halfway somewhere else. I’m not _him_.”

“I know that. I just get scared.”

“Then please tell me _that_. It’s fine. You don’t always have to be all fake crappy cheery. Not with me.”

Annie nodded and then moved her head down.   She gripped the sheets and, as was her habit, began twisting them in knots as she said, “So if I need more time, and yet Sophie’s calling you _daddy_ , how should we handle this? She technically has a father. And while I know he’s a pretty lousy one, I still want to try to foster their relationship. I know it probably won’t be the best, but she should know who he is.”

Jeff let out a long sigh. He placed his hand on her chin and pulled her face up so that they could look at one another.

She stilled her movements with the sheets.

Jeff said, “While I may not like it, I understand. She can have two daddies. They write books about that.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s for gay male couples.”

He smirked as he dropped his hand. “But still.”

Annie smiled in amusement for a moment and then reverted to a serious expression. “Even if she’s calling you _daddy_ and we’re both okay with it, we still need to work on _us_.”

He cleared his throat. “Agreed.”

“I don’t want to put pressure on our relationship. And this isn’t the normal order of things.”

“Since when has either one of us done things in the normal order? I’m going to college for my undergraduate degree _after_ I went to law school.”

Annie let out a quick laugh and then smiled. She placed a kiss on his cheek. “And I had a baby before I met her daddy.”


	27. Paternity Ponderings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff has a lot on his mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thank you to the talented randomramblesff for her incredible fan art for the previous chapter. If you haven’t already seen it, it’s truly a masterpiece. It’s posted on tumblr @harryspaceshipmchale

Jeff was sitting in his living room chair, attempting to read a school textbook – _what was happening to him?_ – but he kept getting distracted by his thoughts.

What else was new?

But these thoughts were a little more _real_ than his usual spiraling/spinning thoughts. Or at least that’s what his therapist called them. But the thing was, they always _seemed_ so real.

These thoughts were definitely real.

_What is a daddy supposed to do?_

_My father was an asshole. That’s what I won’t do._

He felt something soft and wet collide with his knee.

He looked up to see a duck. Or, more accurately, a duck towel, the head of which was covering what he could only reasonably assume was Sophie’s head.

And the giggling might have tipped him off.

“Ooookay. Hello Hobduck.”

More giggling.

_“Fee.”_

He stared in amusement at the towel wrapped around Sophie’s body. He assumed since the beak part was covering her head she couldn’t really see where she was going.

But he was wrong. He cocked his head down and was able to make eye contact with her, noting her face was peering out from underneath the beak.

_“Hi. Dee dee_.”

“Hi there.”

_“Duckie.”_

He smiled as he placed his textbook on the table. “Good job. Yes, you are a duckie.”

More giggling. And wriggling. Sophie placed her head against his knee.

He then heard a distinct Annie-laugh. He looked up to see her standing in the doorway.

He smirked at her and asked, “Why is there a damp duckie at my feet?”

Annie crossed her arms and pressed her shoulder against the wall. She smiled as she explained, “She just had a bath, silly. You know that.”

He nodded and patted Sophie’s head. He wondered if her curls were all wet and smooshed under there.

“Where’d the duckie towel come from?”

“It’s from Shirley. Isn’t it cute?”

“Yes it is.” He furrowed his brow as Sophie attempted to crawl onto his lap. “Whoa there, hobster. We don’t get designer jeans wet.” He gently yet firmly guided her back to the floor.

Annie rolled her eyes and walked over to them. She crouched down and picked Sophie up.   “I’ll get her changed for bed.”

“Um, do you need any help?”

Annie stood and replied, “No, I’ve got this. But thank you.”

“What about her hair?”

A grin spread over Annie’s face. “Maybe you could comb it? And I could really use your assistance with styling it tomorrow. You’re almost a professional. Lauren’s taught you some good tricks.”

Jeff feigned a yawn as he stretched back on the chair. “I do seem to have a knack for it.”

Annie looked at him with a bemused expression. “I’ll get her changed and let you know when we’re ready for your hair magic.”

Jeff glanced at his textbook on the table and asked, “Anything else?”

Annie followed his gaze and noticed the book title read, ‘Child Development.’

She maneuvered Sophie in her arms and replied softly, “Yes, maybe you could read her a story and then put her down for the night? She likes it when you read to her.”

“Sure. No prob.” 

***********************

Annie took care to silently creep up to the doorway. She watched Jeff, who was sitting in his desk chair. Sophie, snuggled on his lap and sucking her thumb, was clearly enthralled as he read to her,

“…to take a bath in one big tub with soap all over – scrub scrub scrub!”

Annie smiled to herself and then slipped away. 

**********************

“So I was thinking of taking some of my crap out of the study. You know, to make room for the munchkin’s crap.”

Annie looked up from her magazine and narrowed her eyes. “Her _crap_?”

Jeff shrugged. “ She has a lot of odds and ends, and they seem to be migrating over the apartment.” He frowned and then reached over to pick up a pink rubber duck from the kitchen floor.

Annie bit her lip as she remarked, “If it’s getting too frustrating, I can take some stuff back to my place.”

Jeff’s eyes shot up from the rubber duck and met Annie’s. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I know you like to keep things neat.”

Jeff sighed as he walked over to her. He plopped down next to her on the couch and carefully placed the duck on the coffee table. “Yes, I admit I like to have things orderly. Which is why I’m going to do some reorganizing of the study. We can keep some of her toys in there. I don’t use half the stuff I have in there anyway.”

“I know she’s messy when she plays.”

“Which is why I can continue to pick up after her.”

“You don’t mind?”

Jeff shrugged. “It’s fine. She’s just a little kid.”

Annie smiled at him and then sighed. “My mom never liked it when I made a mess. I think that’s why I just let her go crazy sometimes.”

Jeff chuckled. “I’ve been wondering about that, Miss Label-Maker. You say I’m a neat freak. You’ve got me beat.”

“That’s true. I’m better at most things than you are.”

Jeff suppressed a smile. “Well maybe between the two of us we can let her enjoy her toddlerhood while still keeping this place at a reasonable level of orderliness.”

Annie tilted her head to the side and fluttered her eyelashes teasingly. “She’s only going to get messier, you know. And once she leaves the crib, it’ll be _full chaos_.”

Jeff’s eyes widened. “And when exactly will that happen?”

Annie laughed and then shrugged. “It all depends. She seems to like her crib. And luckily, she’s short…”

Jeff snorted.

Annie rolled her eyes as she continued, “So that buys us some time. Maybe, just maybe she’ll make it to two-an-half or even three. But the day she gets out or almost gets out, we’ll need to convert the crib to a toddler bed.”

“That’s right. It’s like a Transformer.”

Annie nodded and remarked in a serious tone, “Yes, Jeff, it’s a _Transformer_.”

“Cool.”

Jeff stared at Annie for a few moments in silence.

She began to blush. “What?”

“Nothing. I’m just noting that you’re talking about what _we’re_ going to do when she’s three. That’s a new one.”

She bit her lip and leaned her head against the cushion. “I’m trying it out. That sounds okay, right?”

Jeff nodded. “Yup.” He paused before he continued, “Does this mean you like it here?”

Annie smiled nervously. “Of course I do, dummy.”

He held her gaze as he asked, “Soooo?”

She sighed. “Can we enjoy whatever it is we’re doing right now, please? We can revisit other issues after you and I _date_ a little bit more.”

“Right. We’re reverse-ordering. Gotcha.”

She grabbed his hand. “And I think it’s going really well.”

“Ditto.” 

*************************

“So, Winger, thank you for the refuge. I must say, that Chang is bloody weird.”

Jeff smirked as he let Ian into the apartment. He looked down at Ian’s empty hands in surprise.

“You didn’t bring any booze.”

Ian shrugged. “I’m back on the wagon.”

Jeff grabbed some glasses of water and followed Ian into the living room. Ian nestled himself into a chair and plopped his feet on the ottoman. Jeff sat on the couch.

Jeff placed a glass in front of Ian. “I heard the rumors, mostly via Troy and Abed, but I didn’t believe it.”

Ian slapped the arm of the chair as he exclaimed, “Well my boy, believe it. I am sober. Which makes it doubly difficult to deal with _Chang_ and his _crabs_.”

Jeff sighed as he hunched forward and turned on the television to some random channel. He yawned as he asked, “Annie says she thinks you’ve got some girl you’re trying to impress.”

“Girl? Who?”

Jeff shrugged, keeping his eyes on the television. “I don’t think she has anyone in particular in mind.” He paused before he asked, again with a nonchalant tone, “So do you?”

Ian frowned as he sipped his water. “Not really. This is more of a lifestyle decision, Jeffrey.”

“You mean for your _manhood_.”

“Precisely.”

“So there _is_ a woman.”

Ian coughed. “There are many women in this world, and one has to be _ready._ ” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Jeff glanced at him and then snorted. “True. You must have to be ready all the time.”

“Shut up.”

Jeff laughed and leaned back on the couch. He kept his gaze fixed to the television as he said, “You picked a good time to harass me, actually. It’s uncanny. Annie’s at her place tonight. She, Britta, and Shirley are having some sort of bonding time.”

“I see. So she really does still have her own apartment?”

“Well yeah.”

Ian studied him for a moment. “Very well.  So you’re lonely, I’m lonely, this is perfect.”

Jeff scowled. “I’m not lonely.”

Ian shrugged. “Sure, whatever.

Jeff suddenly spied something on the floor. He frowned as he reached over and picked up one tiny orange and pink striped sock.

Ian followed his gaze and grinned. “I’m assuming that’s not yours.”

“Ha ha. No.” Jeff placed the sock on the coffee table.

There was a knock on the door. Jeff furrowed his brow for a moment and then went to answer it.

He startled at the sight of Shirley and Andre.

Shirley beamed. “Hel-lo Jeffrey, do you have a minute to help us with something?”

“Hey man, sorry to bother you, but she insisted this couldn’t wait.” Andre smiled apologetically as he stood behind Shirley.

Jeff groaned and opened the door wider to let them into the apartment. He motioned for them to follow him.

Shirley’s mouth opened in surprise as they entered the living room. “Professor Duncan?”

“Don’t mind me, Miss Bennett. I’m just here to watch the game.” Ian flipped the remote to another random channel, frowning in puzzlement.

Andre asked, “Game?”

“Sure. There has to be one.”

Shirley said brightly, “Andre, this is Professor Duncan, our Anthropology instructor. Professor Duncan, this is my husband, Andre.”

Ian shrugged as he let his eyes fall back to the television. “Pleased to meet you both.”

Andre frowned and turned to Jeff, “You hang out with your Anthropology professor?”

Jeff groaned again. “Not regularly. He’s having a Chang infestation and needed an escape.”

Shirley eyes darted back and forth as she muttered, “Oh that’s right, I heard you’re letting Chang live with you for a little while.”

Ian kept his eyes glued on the television and swatted the air in response.

Jeff motioned Andre and Shirley over to the dining area. They all sat down.

He sat back in the chair with a sigh. “What’s up?”

Shirley smiled and clasped her hands together on the table. She said with a lilt in her voice, “Speaking of Chang, we’d like your assistance with something.”

“Ooookay.”

Shirley leaned back and patted her belly. “You know that regardless of any biological happenstance this baby will be raised by Andre and I.”

Jeff nodded. “Sure.”

Andre smiled as he took Shirley’s hand. “That’s right. I seem to recall a story about a man named Joseph who happily raised a baby who wasn’t his.”

Jeff squinted at them. “I already know this. You two have been saying this for a while now. What does any of it have to do with me?”

Shirley eyes scanned over the apartment and then lingered on the high chair. “Well Jeffrey, it seems as if you could maybe relate to our situation a little.”

Jeff crossed his arms over his chest and continued to squint at her. “Can we please not get into this now? What do you want me to do?”

She cleared her throat and then took some papers out of her purse and placed them on the table.

Jeff picked them up and began reading through the documents.

As his eyes scanned the page, he said, “This is a forfeiture of parental rights.”

Shirley and Andre nodded.

“We’re hoping given your lawyerly ways that you could convince Chang to sign it. You can convince people to do anything.”

“Shirley, is this really necessary? You guys seem to be in a good spot here from what I can tell. I don’t see Chang as being a hands on baby daddy.”

Andre smiled. “I don’t really think it’s necessary, but Shirley would feel better about it.”

Shirley shook her head. “I don’t want to take any chances. And I don’t want to share custody with Chang. My poor _child_. Please, please, Jeffrey. Or I’ll cry.”

Jeff groaned. “Fine. For the child.” 

**************************

After being guilt-tripped by Shirley, Jeff went back to Ian’s place with him later that evening. He attempted to convince Chang to sign the papers but was caught off guard by Chang’s reaction.

“Why are you crying? Don’t tell me you actually wanted to be a father?’

Chang shrugged in his dejected pose. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Jeff stated firmly, “But fathers are _responsible_. They have _jobs_.”

Ian stood in the background and began gesturing wildly to Jeff. He mouthed, _“I have an idea.”_  

***************************

“I gave him a convincing speech and it didn’t take.”

Shirley bristled at Jeff’s words. Andre reached out and patted her on the arm.

He remarked evenly, “Shirley would be more comfortable if we had something in writing but we can handle any obstacle that comes our way.”

At that moment, Chang came up to them wearing a cardigan, glasses and a tie. 

***************************

Shirley scurried up to Jeff in the hallway. “I ask you to help me and you use it as an opportunity to get Chang out of your best buddy’s apartment!”

Jeff placed his hands in his pockets and rolled his eyes. “Oh please, Professor Duncan’s not my _best buddy_. I don’t even care.”

“Jeffrey, are we really going to do this?”

Jeff groaned. “Shirley. I can’t make him give up his parental rights. You’re asking him to do something that’s a pretty big deal.”

Shirley’s lip began to tremble. “Don’t you think I know that? But I so wish I could erase that little man from my life. You and I both know he’s completely irresponsible. And I’m glad he’s trying to get his life together, but he needs to stop thinking about this baby. Andre’s the one who’s there when my children are sick, he picks them up from school, he helps them with their homework. It’s not how a man _acts_ it’s what he _does._ And that’s why despite the fact that Andre might very well not be the biological father of this baby, I know he will be their _father_.”

Jeff’s heart sank. “Shirley, I…”

She sniffled. “And again, I would think you’d have some sympathy for our situation here. Surely you and An-nie have discussed similar issues in regards to Sophie.”

Jeff pursed his lips. “No, actually. We have _not_ discussed severing Adam’s parental rights. Again, Shirley, that’s a big deal.”

“But you know that man is a complete fool. And once you and An-nie get married, Sophie can have one reliable daddy.”

Jeff ran his hand over his face. “Shirley, Annie and I are not getting married. We’re not even technically living together.”

“But Sophie calls you _daddy_.”

He took a deep breath before he said, “Yes, she does. But look, our situation is not the same as yours. I understand you and Andre used to be married…”

She interjected – “And always have been in the eyes of the Lord.”

...”So I can certainly see why you’d want Andre to raise this child _legally as his own_ , with your other shared children. But still, convincing Chang to do this is huge.”

Shirley lowered her voice and said, “Jeffrey, please don’t make me do something to you.” 

**************************

Ian unfortunately ended up in jail over night for unsubstantiated kidnapping charges. After Jeff and Annie bailed him out, they met up with Andre and Shirley. Shirley quickly revealed she had Chang arrested for child endangerment.

Annie, Andre, and Ian stood and watched in horror as Jeff and Shirley snickered and began scheming to get the charges increased to human trafficking.

Andre broke in, “What is wrong with you two? Why are you doing this to Chang?”

Shirley replied firmly and piously, “Andre, I’m doing this for us. We have a second chance for our family, and I just want everything to be perfect.”

“Baby, that’s what you wanted the first time around. You did everything in your power to make everything perfect and look what happened.”

Annie, Jeff, and Ian listened as they exchanged more words about the failed state of their first attempt at marriage.

Andre explained, “I cheated because I was a coward. While I was gone you learned to accept the bad with the good. Locking up that little man will not make our life any less crazy.”

Shirley sighed in resignation. “I guess you’re right. It’s impossible to keep the chaos from our lives.”

In the end it all worked out. Chang apologized to everyone, stating he would attempt to be less crazy. And Andre, Shirley, and Chang appeared to form some sort of weird tentative family.

Annie watched Jeff curiously as he appeared to view the proceedings with extreme skepticism.

At that moment, Britta rushed in. Almost breathlessly she exclaimed, “Professor Duncan! Annie told me you were _arrested_! Oh my god! That is so coo… you must have been so scared!”

She lurched forward and grabbed Ian into an awkward and smothering hug.

Jeff regarded them with a mixture of shock and then growing amusement.

Annie caught his eye and ran over to assist Ian in disentangling himself from Britta. 

****************************

“So that was interesting.”

Jeff remarked dryly, “Yeah I know. Who would have guessed once Britta discovered Ian had been arrested on _child kidnapping_ charges she’d have reacted that way? She has a mouth like a sailor.”

Annie stared at him, her mouth falling open.

He eyed her nervously and continued, “And the way she just kicked him in the shin…I haven’t heard so many _bloody hells_ in my entire life.”

Annie narrowed her eyes at him.

He prattled on, “But at least you were helpful in clearing it all up. That was very _Annie_ of you. Now she’s back to thinking he’s a rock star for spending the night in a jail cell.”

“Jeff!”

“I’m sure he doesn’t even know what to do with that kind of hero worship. He’ll fuck it up somehow.”

Annie gasped, “Are you serious?!?”

“Why did you call her anyway? And since when have those two been so chummy? I know they ran into each other that one night, but that was a few months ago now…”

“Jeff!”

“What?”

She shook her head.

He gulped and then lowered his voice, “I’m sorry, okay. I wouldn’t have gone through with getting Chang racked up on those charges.”

Annie grimaced as she slid into the Lexus and closed the door.

Jeff sat down in the driver’s seat. He was about to start the engine when Annie placed her hand on his arm.

“Do we need to talk about this? You seem to have been overreacting to this whole situation. Chang’s not a villain.”

He slouched forward and closed his eyes. “Right.”

She squeezed his hand. “If Chang’s the baby’s father, I’m sure he, Andre, and Shirley can work it out. I think Chang might be a good dad if he really wants to be.”

“Annie, you and I both know he’d be terrible.”

“That’s not fair.”

He opened his eyes and turned to face her. “Maybe not. But look, you and I both know biology does not make for good parents.”

She nodded solemnly. “I know. But both your dad and my dad took themselves out of the picture. Chang wants to be involved. And that means a lot.”

Jeff cleared this throat and then asked, “How much does Adam want to be involved with Sophie?”

He watched a tear fall down Annie’s cheek. He reached out and wiped it.

She kept her eyes down and sniffled. “I don’t know.”

“When’s the last time he saw her?”

She looked up at him and smiled weakly. “January.”

“It’s March.”

She sighed. “That’s not too bad.” She rolled her eyes as she said, “I kinda sprung this whole _dad thing_ on him anyway. Considering that, he’s doing okay.”

“Dad thing? Jesus. It’s not a _thing_. He shouldn’t view her as a burden.”

“I’m sure that’s not what he thinks. He’s just mad at me.”

“Jesus fucking C…”  
  
Annie cut him off. “Stop it. That’s between him and me. And anyway, I have reduced expectations for his involvement with Sophie, I told you that. I just want them not to be complete strangers. Then if he changes his mind some day, that would be nice for her.”

“I doubt that would be nice for her. He’s a jackass.”

Annie groaned. “How many times do we have to have this conversation? I know I’m doing the right thing. If he really doesn’t want to see her, he can refuse to do that. So far, he hasn’t.”

Jeff leaned back on the seat and closed his eyes. “Sorry. You’re right.”

Annie sighed. “But I know he’s conflicted. He feels bad about it. And anyway, he’s waiting to hear back on graduate programs. He should find out mid-April, maybe sometime over the summer if he doesn’t get admitted on the first round and ends up on a wait list.”

Jeff’s eyes flew open. “Wait…what?”

She calmly explained, “He applied to graduate school in English, so he can do research and teach at the college level. I think he’ll be really good at it. So anyway, a lot of things are up in the air as far as how often he’ll see Sophie.”

“Is he applying out of state?”

“Mostly. His dream program is the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.”

“That’s on the other side of the country.”

“I know.”

Jeff took a deep breath before he said, “These are things I’d like you to tell me.”

“I am telling you. I just didn’t want to upset…”

He interjected, --“I know, you never want to upset me. But seriously, Annie, this is huge stuff. And so what if it upsets me? It’s got to upset you. And look, whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.” 

************************

Jeff stood in the Dildopolis parking lot. He paced back and forth as he hit random buttons on his phone.

He then spotted Thanos emerge from the back door. Thanos was holding the hand of a dark haired little boy who appeared to be maybe a year older than Sophie.

“Hey, Thanos. This your kid?”

Thanos smiled broadly. “Yes, this is Dino. Dino, can you say hi to Mr. Winger?”

_“Hi_.”

Jeff smiled. “Hi, Dino. What are you guys up to?”

“We’re going to the park, actually. My uncle’s watching the back. Don’t worry if you have your Lexus here. He’ll keep a good eye on it.”

Jeff frowned and crossed his arms. “No, actually, we just stopped in so that Annie could relieve Nancy. She was watching Sophie while we helped some friends out this morning. We’re actually going to the park too.”

“Maybe we could join you guys? If you don’t mind?”

“Um, yeah, sure.” 

**************************

Annie turned to Jeff as they sat on the bench. “It’s so nice Thanos is here to keep an eye on the kids. Aren’t they playing well together?”

Jeff smiled as he watched Sophie and Dino scoop up some sand in the toddler play lot. Thanos was sitting next to them and supervising. Annie had given him specific instructions not to let Sophie eat the sand.

_Sophie eats sand?_

Jeff shuddered.

He remarked, “Yes, they’re adorable. And looks like so far she’s keeping the sand away from her mouth.”

Annie chuckled as she leaned in toward his side.

He wrapped his arm around her and sighed. “My dad used to take me to the park. And sometimes the zoo.”

She shot her eyes up to his. “That’s nice.”

She began to rub his chest soothingly.

He clenched his jaw. “No, it wasn’t. He had this habit of running off to a bar and coming back for me later.”

Annie’s hand stilled on his chest. “Oh god.”

Jeff cleared his throat and continued in a softer tone, “Once he didn’t come back at all. I was left, scared and angry, at the zoo. He’d forgotten about me.”

Annie’s voice trembled, “Jeff, I am so, so, sorry.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well.”

He watched as a smiling Thanos reached down to scoop up some more sand so that Dino could make a larger sand blob. Sophie appeared to be digging a hole next to it. Both kids were giggling profusely.

He mumbled into Annie’s hair, “There are some good dads in this world. Thanos, Andre, hell, maybe even Chang. Although I _doubt_ it.”

“Yes, there are good dads.”

“Maybe we could take Sophie to the zoo sometime? You know, when she’d appreciate it a little more. Right now she’d probably just try to lick things.”

Annie chuckled. “That would be fun. When was the last time you were at a zoo?”

“When I was six.” 

**********************

Spring progressed.

The group got together and painted Shirley’s baby’s nursery a lovely shade of yellow. There was a camping trip and a few other excursions from which Annie and Jeff excused themselves, citing they were not Sophie-friendly activities and they didn’t want to leave her overnight just yet. Jeff planned an elaborate birthday party for Abed and after some initial frustrations, the group ended up bonding yet again over a late night celebration and dancing. And Jeff and Abed seemed to be closer than they had been over recent months.

After reminiscing over their shared experiences during the semester, Annie was delighted to be reunited with her purple pens.

And Ian Duncan ended up drinking again. But he claimed this was the only way he could cope with the upcoming end of the semester. And the _crabs_.

Chang may have ended up in the vents with Annie’s Boobs.

And Adam was put on a waitlist for North Carolina, with the final admission decision being deferred until sometime in the summer. 

**************************

Turns out having Professor Duncan back off the wagon was good news for the Anthropology class. They began toasting the end of their semester but unfortunately were interrupted by a visit from the Dean and Mr. Jacobson, a writer for Dean Magazine.

Instinctively, Professor Duncan slammed down his glass, shattering it. He loudly and decisively exclaimed, “And that is what Jews do at weddings. Anthropology!”

Within moments, he scurried from the classroom under the guise of obtaining his unorthodox final exam materials.

Jeff squinted at him as he left.

_Jackass._

After initially complaining of indigestion and suffering through some of Britta’s uninformed views on childbirth, Shirley’s water broke.

Jeff sprang up and moved Ian’s desk out of the way. Annie and Britta assisted Shirley to a seated position in front of the classroom. They propped her feet up on another chair.

Unfortunately, due to, as the Dean phrased it, a ‘race kerfuffle’ at the campus World Food Festival, the class quickly realized Shirley wasn’t going to make it to the hospital. Annie called Andre and told him to meet them at Greendale.

After rebuffing Abed’s attempts, there was a discussion over who should check Shirley’s cervix. Britta initially tried to pawn the task off to Annie, who was adamant that she would be of much better use in role of support person, having gone through childbirth herself from that end of things. Plus, she was concerned about not being _properly prepared_ for cervix measurement. Britta groaned and took over. After one incidence of throwing up, Jeff convinced Britta to try again. And she did, relishing in the idea of doing something meaningful and _important_ for her friend.

As the labor progressed, they moved Shirley onto the floor, Troy providing soft blankets and in general trying to assure she’d be comfortable. Troy was good at making sure women were comfortable.

Shirley labored with Annie holding her hand. Chang told her ridiculous yet strangely soothing stories to help her be with the pain.

Jeff watched from a distance with the other students, in partial awe and shock as it became evident the baby was going to be born right there within a matter of minutes.

Shirley squeezed Annie’s hand and cried out.

Annie instructed her calmly yet firmly, “Push the baby down, Shirley. You can do this. You’ve done this before. Just push the baby down.”

Within moments, Andre and the paramedics arrived. Britta swatted off the medical help.

As the baby came out, Britta caught him and exclaimed, “It’s Baby Greendale!”

Everyone cheered. 

************************

Jeff and Britta stood off to the side, watching as Andre, Shirley, and Chang cooed over the baby, whom by now was determined to be Andre’s, as he didn’t have a Chang tail.

Jeff’s eyes fell on Annie, who had moved over slightly but was smiling giddily at the happy family scene in front of her.

Jeff remarked, “Can you believe that’s how we come into this world? Screaming, crying, covered in crap. And then somewhere along the lines we get it into our heads that we’re destined for greatness.”

Britta nodded solemnly.   “We are. I just yanked a little dude out of my friend.”

Jeff chuckled at her lack of awareness. “Yeah. I guess we passed Anthropology.”

Britta’s eyes widened as she stared off toward the baby. “Look at how teeny his hands are.”

Jeff’s face contorted into a sappy expression, “They’re so little right? His fingers are like Good & Plenties.”

Britta smiled. “I know. I want to eat ‘em.” She paused and then stiffened. “Which is lame.”

Jeff continued to stare off at the family scene. He remarked almost wistfully, “I wish I … _we_ could have known Sophie at that age, as a newborn. We missed out on that.”

Britta turned and smirked. “Um hum.”

At that moment, Annie came bounding over to them. She clapped her hands together and grinned. “Guys! Isn’t this a-ma-zing?!? Shirley had her baby! And he’s perfect!”

Britta smiled. “And we all helped.”

Annie turned to her and stated sweetly, “You did a great job, Britta. She was lucky you were here.”

Britta blushed and swatted the air. “Awww, it was nothing.”

Jeff crossed his arms over his chest as he said, “I didn’t really do anything. Except get out of the way. You ladies rocked it. And Abed and Chang.”

Britta grinned and punched him on the arm before walking over to see the baby.

Jeff watched her go and remarked, “She’s on a new smugness high. But you know what, this time it’s deserved.”

Annie laced her arm with his and leaned into his side. “You did help too, you know. You moved the desk. And you gave Britta a pep talk so that she could go back and deliver that baby.”

“Awww, thanks.”

“You did.”

“You really helped keep Shirley focused. Annie, you were amazing.”

“Thank you. I’ve been there, you know.”

“I hate thinking of you going through that alone.”

“I wasn’t alone. Nancy was there.”

“You know what I mean.” 

*******************

Jeff scanned Sophie’s room, evaluating the results of his reorganization spree.

_Not bad. The baby hobbit has more room for her crap._

He smiled and went into the living room to grab her toy bin. He figured it was logical to put it in her room. He looked down at the floor and spied a tiny purple sock.

_Is she going around with one sock again? How does Annie not notice?_

He chuckled and tossed the sock on the table. He then picked up the bin and took it into Sophie’s room. As he placed it on the floor, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He saw that it was Annie calling and immediately answered it.

He said with a smile in his voice, “Hey.”

He stopped when he heard the sniffling.

Annie’s shaky voice stated, “Jeff, I don’t know what to do.”

He felt his pulse quicken.

_What if something terrible happened? Is Annie hurt? Is Sophie?_

He gulped and then asked, “What is it?”

“I’m late….”

Immediately he felt the words tumbling out of his mouth, “It’s okay. Let’s get married. We’ll do this together, Annie.”

\--“to my exam.”

There was a long silence.

“Crap.”

There were some more beats of silence before Jeff asked in a trembling voice, “Um…so…your exam?”

Annie let out a long and wearied sigh. “Jeff. I have an IUD. I’m not getting knocked up. You know that.”

“Sorry. Forget what I said.”

Annie sighed again. “We can get into this later. Nancy sprained her ankle and had to go to the ER. I don’t have anyone to watch Sophie.”

“I’m on it.”


	28. Messiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff make a decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to randomramblesff for once again being inspired to create wonderful fan art for this fic. There is a new illustration for the previous chapter, capturing the “hobduck.” Please see her work on tumblr (@harryspaceshipmchale).
> 
> This is the last chapter for Part Two!

Dorie smiled with satisfaction as she looked up from her brunch plate.   She gave Annie a wink.

Annie startled as she recognized a flash of Jeff in his mom’s gesture. And their eyes were eerily similar.

“Mom!”

“What is it, dear?”

Jeff sighed as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “You know.”

“I don’t think I do, dear. Care to elaborate?”

Jeff jerked his head to his right.

Ian looked up from his bacon. He opened his mouth in surprise and widened his brown eyes.

Jeff groaned. “Why is _he_ here?”

“Because his mother is across an ocean and he was feeling lonely.”

“That’s right, Jeffrey. I’m very lonely.”

“God.”

“Jeffrey! You will behave.”

“It’s Mother’s Day. I was hoping to spend it with just you, Annie, and Sophie.”

Sophie whipped her head in Jeff’s direction and then shrieked as she slammed her fist on her tray, _“Fee!”_

The bear, which was wearing a bib and sitting on the table to Sophie’s left, bounced with the reverberation.

Jeff smirked at her for a moment while keeping his arms crossed over his chest. He then cast his eyes to Ian, who was sighing loudly.

“My life is utter chaos, Jeffrey. I needed a respite. Chang made a mess of my apartment, and since he’s moved out, I need to do a _thorough deep cleaning_.”

Jeff groaned before he replied, “Your apartment is a pig sty under normal circumstances.”

Ian shrugged. “Well then this is an opportunity to get things in order.”

Jeff squinted in annoyance. “Why now?”

Dorie clasped her hands in front of her on the table as she stated, “Jeffrey, Ian has been working hard at pulling his life together. He’s explained to me that he fell off the wagon again recently but now he’s abstaining again. He needs our support.”

Jeff stared at his mother, his lips scrunching slightly. Dorie held her reproachful gaze.

Annie placed her hand on Jeff’s upper arm, right above his elbow. “Jeff, let’s just have brunch. I don’t mind Professor Duncan being here. It’s nice.”

Ian leaned over to catch her eye. “Thank you, Annie. And please, now that I’m not your professor anymore you may call me Ian. Or Duncan if you prefer.”

Dorie grinned and puffed her chest out slightly as she watched the exchange.

Anne smiled as she asked, “Which do _you_ prefer?”

Ian shrugged and began stabbing his eggs. “Doesn’t really matter. People mostly call me Duncan when I drink.” He added under his breath, “Isn’t that right, Jeffrey?”

Jeff tensed as he felt his mother’s eyes swoop toward him.

Annie patted Jeff’s arm. “Well then I’ll call you Ian. Just like Dorie does.”

Ian nodded to her. “That would be fabulous.” He looked at Jeff, “I like her. I hope you are treating her well.”

Jeff sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

Annie leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Jeff mumbled tersely but with a hint of a smile, “Annie.”

Annie smiled brightly and leaned over to catch Ian’s gaze. “He is. He’s a great boyfriend.”

Jeff rolled his eyes but found himself uncrossing his arms as Annie tugged on one of them.

She grabbed Jeff’s left hand, intertwined their fingers, and began rubbing her thumb along the side.

Ian poked Jeff in the ribs with his elbow. “Ahhhh.”

Jeff darted his eyes to his right before turning toward Annie. He gave her a small smile with closed lips.

Dorie’s eyes twinkled as she watched the interplay amongst the three. She then turned her attentions to Sophie. “And how are you, Sophie? Did you get your Mommy anything for Mother’s Day?”

Sophie smiled at Dorie. _“Mama! Dee Dee.”_ She pointed at Annie and then at Jeff. She continued, _“Ooooohhh.”_ Followed by a bunch of mostly gibberish.

Ian cocked his head to the side. “I do wonder what she is saying.”

Dorie watched Jeff’s expression soften as he made eye contact with Sophie. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head forward slightly as he watched her.

Annie gave Jeff’s hand a squeeze before she reached in her purse and pulled out a piece of construction paper.

“She gave me this.” She grinned as she exchanged a look with Jeff.

Jeff kept his now Annie-less left hand on the table and reached across his body to place his right hand on the paper. “Annie, they don’t need to see that. It doesn’t make any sense anyway.”

Annie pouted. “But you helped her with it. It was really sweet.” She moved the paper out of his reach and pushed it toward Dorie.

Dorie smiled as she held up the paper so Ian could see it. “Isn’t this wonderful? Why I think it’s a flower.”

Jeff sighed. “It’s three red squiggly lines.”

Dorie nodded. “And they’re very artistically drawn. Why, I think it’s a daisy. Is it, Sophie?”

Sophie reached a sticky hand toward the paper and brushed it lightly. _“Fee dah Dee Dee. Dee Dee dah Fee.”_

Annie laughed as she resumed her grip of Jeff’s hand. She remarked softly, “That’s right, sweetie. Daddy helped you with that.”

Dorie exchanged knowing glances with Ian and then focused back on Jeff’s face. She noted he appeared to be regarding Sophie with intense amusement, his eyes widening as Sophie nodded and pointed toward him.

Sophie continued, _“Fee dah cay-on. Dee Dee dah cay-on.”_

Jeff swallowed a chuckle.

Sophie giggled and then turned her attention back to her plate. She reached a hand into a puddle of syrup and promptly rubbed it over her face.

Jeff instinctively cringed for a moment but then found himself relaxing slightly.  He was relieved Annie continued to refer to him as Sophie’s _daddy_ despite the awkwardness of the past week. His mind flashed back to their conversation after the infamous phone call.

 

 

     Annie sighed as she sat cross-legged in front of him on the couch. He turned to face her, and she grabbed both his hands.

     He cleared his throat and then asked, “How was your exam?”

     Annie eyed him with concern and then said softly, “We need to talk about what happened earlier.”

     He shook his head and looked down. “Let’s just let it go. I’m humiliated enough.”

     Annie took a deep breath and squeezed his hands. “You can’t just say things like that.”

     Continuing to look down, he replied, “I wasn’t thinking.”

     Annie lowered her voice to an almost whisper, “Clearly. When did you even have time to think? I wasn’t even finished with my sentence.”

     “I’m sorry. Let’s just forget about it.”

     She squeezed his hands again.

     He looked up.

     She smiled softly as she said, “Jeff, you can’t just panic-propose to me. Even if, for some strange reason, you thought I was pregnant.”

     He averted his gazed for a moment and mumbled, “It’s not that strange. Nothing is 100% effective.”

     Annie sighed again and looked at him intently. “Okay, you’re right. But it’s _highly unlikely_. And again, you didn’t stop to _listen_ to me.”

     He winced and closed his eyes. “I feel really stupid. I don’t know why I jumped to that.”

     Annie rubbed her thumbs against his hands and said softly, “It’s okay. We can’t help what we think. But again, you can’t just skip over a bunch of steps.”

     He opened his eyes to look at her. “Hm?”

     She continued, “I know I’ve been reluctant to _move in_. And I’m aware we haven’t really even used those words out loud. But I told you, I need to take things slowly.”

     He let out a long sigh. “Sure. But I need you to know that…” He grimaced and returned her hand squeeze before he continued, “I’ll admit I was an idiot about the jumping   to conclusions thing.” He winced again and was silent.

     “Jeff?”

    He took a deep breath and continued, moving he eyes back to hers. “I know I kinda panic-proposed, and again, _let’s just ignore that_.” He paused for a few beats before he eyed her tentatively and added in a low voice, “But would it be so bad? Like eventually?”

     Annie eyes widened and a blush began to creep across her cheeks. She gulped before replying, “I didn’t mean to imply it was a bad idea. Just really bad timing. _We’re_ not ready for that.”

     He clenched his jaw. “I know.”

     She noted his expression and quickly added, “But that doesn’t mean we won’t be, _eventually_. Again, I think there are some more steps before we could seriously talk about something like that.”

     He nodded somberly. “So, like in the future, maybe? If this all goes okay?”

     Annie tilted her head to the side and smiled. “I’m not in any rush. And I don’t think I really _need_ that. But we could talk about it at some point.”

     He laughed with an edge before he replied, “Like sometime in the future _after_ you’ve moved in probably.”

     “Right. _After_ I’ve moved in. And again, I need things to go slowly.”

     He nodded. “It’s okay.”

     “Is it? Jeff, even if I go home, I’ll come back.”

     “I know.”

     “I promise I’ll come back. I love you. I’ll always come back. I’m not going to forget about you.”

     He felt his face becoming hot. He looked down.

_Since when is the couch blurry?_

     It took him a moment to realize he had difficulty seeing through his tears.

 

 

He snapped his attention back as he heard Annie’s voice.

“Jeff, are you okay?” She rubbed his hand and looked at him with concern.

He let out a breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. Spaced out for a sec.”

Dorie cast a look toward Annie, who smiled tightly.

A few minutes later, while Sophie was busy babbling on some topic to Ian and Jeff, Dorie excused herself to go to the ladies room.

“Annie dear, I don’t seem to remember where it is. Why don’t you come help me find it?”

Annie smiled sweetly and said, “Of course.”

After they made their way into the restroom, Dorie turned to face Annie.

“Is my son okay? He was being so cute with Sophie earlier and then he suddenly went pale.”

Annie sighed as she leaned against the sink. “I think so. We just had an awkward conversation the other day. And I don’t think he’s really moved on from it.”

Dorie eyed her with concern. “A fight?”

“No, it was hardly a fight. He misunderstood something I said to him and I think he’s embarrassed.”

“What kind of misunderstanding was it?”

Annie shook her head. “It’s nothing. We cleared it up. But I just think he was way more vulnerable with me than he intended to be right now. I’ve tried to reassure him it’s okay.”

“Well my son certainly doesn’t do well with vulnerability. But I’m glad he’s opening up to you.”

Annie’s lower lip began to tremble. “I love him. A lot. I just wish he’d hold onto that.”

Dorie nodded sagely and gave Annie a hug. 

*************************

After the Greendale Seven completed their exams, they finally had time to address their growing frustrations with Pierce and his antics over the course of the semester. They decided to hold a vote to see if he would be asked to leave the study group. Annie protested, defending Pierce and attributing most of his awful behavior to his pill addiction and the recent loss of his mother.

She grit her teeth and stated to the whole group, “I’ve been there. He needs our understanding, not our judgment.”

Various group members muttered their disagreements.

Jeff remarked loudly, “Annie, he was awful _before_ his addiction. And since he’s returned from rehab he still hasn’t been very pleasant. We need to hold a vote.”

Annie pursed her lips, and after some silent deliberation said, “Fine.”

They decided to vote via cards. Jeff looked up and shook his head at Annie once he saw that there was one lone red card.

Annie squinted her eyes at him as she maneuvered Sophie on her lap.

At that moment, Pierce entered the room. He looked stricken, eyeing the playing cards on the table.

“You’re playing a game without me?”

Annie started to stammer a reply when Sophie screamed, _“Gampa Peas!”_

Pierce’s face suddenly softened. Annie laughed as he ran over and motioned for Sophie. She shot a glare at Jeff and then stood, carefully handing Sophie to Pierce.

Jeff instinctively stiffened and started to rise.

Annie smugly motioned for him to sit down. She stood next to Pierce and kept her hands almost underneath Sophie, her hands ready to catch her.

Pierce hugged Sophie and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Yes, that’s right, Grandpa Pierce loves Sophie!”

Sophie giggled and began smacking him on the face.

The group members eyed each other nervously and watched as Pierce basked in Sophie’s joyfulness.

Jeff pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

Annie eyed him triumphantly and then turned her attentions back to making sure Pierce kept a firm grip on Sophie. 

****************************

The Dean made threw another end of the year campus party, this time in the form of a Western-themed picnic. Dorie offered to watch Sophie, given that the study group made plans to go out after the event for group-bonding time. While Jeff would have preferred to go out with just Annie on a real ‘date,’ he was no match for her Disney eyes and found himself agreeing to include the other members of the group 

He remarked cockily, “Well, of course we’re not inviting Pierce.”

Annie glared at him. “We _are_ going to invite him. It would be rude not to.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “But Shirley’s not even coming.”

Annie swatted him. “She’s coming to the picnic but then needs to go home to be with her _newborn son_.”

He shrugged. “Fine. I guess I’m surprised she’s even going to be there at all. That’s a bit unusual right? Didn’t she just have a baby right in front of us last week?”

Annie groaned and opened her arms wide. “I know! It doesn’t make any sense. Abed was mumbling something about that the other day. He said it sounded like a _plot convenience._ ”

“A what?”

Annie shrugged. “ _Anyway_ , we’re inviting Pierce. We can tell him about it at the picnic and see if he wants to join us.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Annie batted her eyelashes and began to fiddle with his collar. “Thank you. And I was talking to your mom, and she says she’d be happy to watch Sophie over night. You know, so we could hang out with our friends without having to rush to Denver or her having to stay here. What do you think?”

Jeff stared at her as a grin began to spread over his face. “Um, yeah. Are you sure you’re ready to leave her over night?”

Annie quickly nodded. “I am if she’s with your mom. While it might feel a little weird, I know she’ll be fine and then you and I can have some time alone. I think we could use it.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh really?”

“Yes. It’ll be a trial run for our vacation. I’d really like us to have a night and a morning uninterrupted.” She began to run her hand in circles over his chest.

“You don’t have to sell me on it. I’m in.”

He leaned down to give her a soft kiss. 

***********************

Annie and Jeff dressed in their best Western outfits for the campus picnic. Annie chuckled as she recognized Jeff’s outfit from their first year Halloween party. She had to admit it really suited him.

Jeff took a double take when Annie emerged from the bedroom wearing a long matronly skirt, a shirt with puffy sleeves, a vest, and a black choker. Her hair was pulled to the side and secured with a hair tie.

She gave a twirl. “You like it?”

He smiled. “Um, yeah. Annie, you make a really cute cowgirl.”

She stepped closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Well, thank you, my handsome cowboy.”

“I thought I was your handsome hobo.” He pulled her in, his arms wrapping around her waist. 

She fluttered her eyelashes as she remarked, “Not today you aren’t. Let’s hurry up and get Sophie off to your mom’s.”

He smirked as he glanced over at the tiny pink suitcase near the front door, the baby doll propped up against it.

Annie added, “I think this party will be super fun.”

He squinted and suppressed a smile. “You’re just pleased you won the Pierce issue.”

“Of course I am. It’s the right thing to do. Even Sophie knows it.” 

**************************

Due to another fantastically inappropriate prize, the campus picnic erupted into a game of paintball assassin. Overall, the game felt like two days but could really have been only a few hours, as Shirley would have needed to pump several more times and couldn’t have been away from her newborn baby that long. Again, Abed commented that the differing scenes of nighttime and daylight didn’t make sense, but he appeared to shrug it off, having committed to the western theme and later a Star Wars theme. Unfortunately for Abed, the Star War theme didn’t really catch on.

“How come I’m not Han Solo? Not that I care.” Jeff scoffed and kicked the floor with the toe of his boot.

“You don’t automatically get to be Han. Sure, you assumed you would slouch into it on default, but I beat you to it. It’s _mine_. I have Starburns’ vest.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “What the hell is going on? First there was the ridiculous average looking guy with a big chin hitting on Annie and now you’re trying to make her your Princess Leia. Although you’re really weird, I don’t think I’m going to allow it.”

Annie punched Jeff lightly on the shoulder. “I’m standing right here!”

He turned to her with a smirk. “Why would I listen to you? You’re not wearing any pants.”

She puffed out her chest indignantly.

He may have let his gaze linger on her cleavage for a few beats longer than was appropriate in public.

 _Oh hell, it’s just Abed_.

Annie explained, “That long skirt was bogging me down. I need to be able to move.”

He suppressed a smile as he continued, “You’re not being _his_ Princess Leia.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “I’m not _anyone’s anything_. God! And for your information, I wasn’t going to run off with the Black Rider!”

“I know.”

She squinted at him. “Do you?”

Abed suddenly spoke up, “Guys, can we please speed this up? It’s unnecessary friction. We need to get on with paintball.”

Jeff crossed his arms and sighed. “Annie, the only reason you’re even entertaining the idea of being Princess Leia is because you know I was right about Pierce. And now you’re mad at _yourself._ You’ve seen his true colors now. He wanted me to _die_. He’s an evil, twisted, sick old man. And I say he’s out of the group.”

Annie huffed. “Fine. I may be disappointed in Pierce. But for you to use all those adjectives to describe him, I draw the line, Jeff Winger.” 

“Riiiight.”

She turned to Abed. “Abed, I agree with you. Jeff and I are done talking at present. I would be happy to play the part of Princess Leia. Let’s go on an adventure!”

Jeff shook his head. “You cannot be serious.”

Abed nodded vigorously. “Great! Princess, let’s go and help Luke with his part of the plan.”

Han and Princess Leia nodded at Jeff and then scuttled off down the hallway.

Jeff cupped his hands over his mouth and called out, “Annie, you don’t like to admit when you’re _wrong_! Have fun, weirdos!” 

*************************

Annie stood with Abed in the library. A moment ago they had realized they were out of ammo.

“Well this is it,” remarked Abed suavely.

Annie nodded and then looked up at him with concern. “You know I’m not going to kiss you, right?”

Abed shrugged. “That’s fine. I knew you’d prefer Jeff as Han.”

Annie sighed as she tossed her gun on the floor. “Actually, no. Jeff and I needed a break. He was being ridiculous.”

Abed cocked his head to the side. “But you _were_ wrong. Pierce is evil. He tried to kill Jeff.”

“In _paintball_.”

Abed looked at her in confusion. “He tried to kill Jeff.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Fine. I was _wrong_ , okay?”

Abed blinked twice rapidly and asked, “So after this is over, you and Jeff will make up, right?”

Annie stared at him incredulously. “Of course we will. Just because I needed space doesn’t mean I won’t talk to him about it.”

She could have sworn she saw Abed relax a little in his face and shoulders.

“Han, are you okay?”

“Who are we kidding, Annie. I’m not Han. That bit was dead several minutes ago.”

She nodded. “Right.” She began to rub his arm as she asked, “Abed, are you okay?”

Abed looked steadily over her shoulder. “Your dad left. My mom left. You, Jeff, and Sophie make a family. You’re like the first family of the study group. We all need you guys to be okay.” He looked back down at her, “You shouldn’t have run off with Han.”

Annie felt the tears begin to well up. “Abed, how can you say something so sweet?”

“It’s because I’m not Han.”

At that moment, the sprinklers began raining orange paint. Annie pulled Abed down into a hug and mumbled into his ear, “I’m sorry I was a crappy Leia.”

She felt him emphatically nod into her neck.

As the paint stopped Annie smiled at him. “Let’s find Jeff and Troy.” 

******************************

After a fierce battle, Pierce won paintball.

The study group watched as he unexpectedly and proudly donated the winnings to Greendale.

Annie, her faith newly restored in Pierce and in her judgment of people, was crushed when he decided to leave the study group.

Denny’s was kind of a downer after that. 

********************************

Annie and Jeff made their way back to Jeff’s apartment. Annie looked at her cell and typed in another reply to Dorie. She smiled.

“Sophie did really well. She’s sleeping.”

Jeff placed a kiss on her paint-covered head as he opened the door. “Good. My mom is the baby whisperer.”

As they entered, he remarked, “Jesus, Annie, all that orange paint. I’m just glad I had the foresight to keep towels in the Lexus. You would have ruined the leather.”

Annie looked up at him. “Why did you have towels in there anyway?”

“Because I learned my lesson after I saw what happened to others last year.”

“So Greendale did teach you something.”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

He smirked as placed his hands on his hips and eyed her up and down.

She began to blush underneath her paint-covered face. “What?”

“I think you need a shower.”

Her eyes widened as she said quickly, “Please don’t worry about it. I’ll go wash up before I touch any of your furniture.”

Jeff’s smirk transformed into a smile. “Um, can I join you?”

She unobtrusively blushed again. “Okay.”

After carefully taking off his own clothes, Jeff assisted Annie in removing her costume. He gingerly placed the pile of dry paint-covered garments in a pile in the bathroom.

In the shower, he did his best to help Annie in removing the paint from her body. He may have needed to scrub her down more than once.

Just to make sure.

Given past failed attempts at shower sex – their height disparity made it almost comical and likely extremely dangerous – they both knew they should save it for the bedroom.

Annie laughed as he placed her on the bed. “Why did you carry me from the bathroom? I’m only wearing a towel!”

“You’ve answered your own question, milady.”

She blushed overtly as she looked up at him hovering over her.

“You did a pretty good job making sure my hair was paint-free. You have magic hands.” She began to caress his arms.

“You’re welcome. And wait until you see what other things my hands can do.”

“You’re so cheesy.”

“You like cheese.”

“I do.”

*************************

The daylight streamed in from the window. Annie was curled in Jeff’s arms.

She began to stretch slightly as he stirred.

He groaned. “What time is it?”

“I have no idea. I’m so confused on what day it is.”

“Thank god my mom has the munchkin.”

Annie mumbled into his chest, “We should probably pick her up later.”

He let out a quick laugh. “Yeah. Probably.”

Annie tilted her head to look up at him. “I’m sorry for being all strange with the Pierce situation. I was disappointed in his behavior during the game and what he tried to do to you. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Jeff sighed. “It’s okay. And look, I kinda feel like a jerk right now. Clearly Pierce isn’t as evil as we all thought. He gave that money to Greendale. You were right about him.”

She nodded into his chest. “I think this means we were both right in some ways and wrong in others.”

“Fair.”

She looked up again and caught his eye. “I’m sorry I ran off with Han.”

Jeff arched an eyebrow and asked teasingly, “Should I be worried about that? You didn’t make out with Abed did you?”

She swatted him. “No! But I should have stuck with you.”

He smiled broadly as he pulled her in closer and kissed her head. “Eh, you guys were just having fun. It’s fine.”

Annie pressed a hand against his chest. “No, it’s not. We’ve been together almost one year.”

She felt his body tense as he remarked, “I know. It will be next week.”

She moved back a little and rolled completely on her side so that she was facing him. He adjusted to mirror her.

She took a deep breath and said, “I know I can last for a while on my own in paintball, but we were better as a team. I think we could have survived the entire game if we had stuck together.”

He pursed his lips for a moment before he said, “It’s over, it’s…”

She reached over and placed her hand on his side. “We make a good team.”

“True.”

She then took another deep breath and looked at him with slightly wet eyes. “I think Sophie’s Mommy and Daddy should live together.”

Jeff’s eyes widened and he gulped. He asked in a slightly trembling voice, “Really?”

Annie propped her head up on her hand.   She looked at him intently as she responded steadily, “Yes. I want to move in with you.”

He continued to stare at her in silence.

She added, “I’m sorry I’ve been such a jerk about it.”

He studied her face for several moments before he said, “You haven’t been a _jerk_. God, after everything you’ve been through, I get it. I’m sorry I’ve been pushy.”

Annie said softly, her eyes opening wide, “You’ve been honest about what you wanted. And I want it to. I’ve just been scared.”

A tear fell down her cheek.

He smiled tightly as he wiped it from her face. “I know.”

She sniffed as she continued, “But I don’t think I need to be scared. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“And Sophie loves you.”

“I love Sophie too.”

“I know.” She sniffed again while Jeff wiped another tear from her face.

She smiled weakly as she said, “It means a lot to me that you accept her. You do more than just put up with her. You’ve been a good daddy to her.”

Jeff eyed her intently. “Of course. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing most of the time. But I'm trying.”

Annie let out a low laugh. “And I know you don’t always try hard at things.”

He chuckled in response.

He then raised his eyebrows as he asked, “So you guys are really going to move in? As in completely give up your place at Dildopolis?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter for “Everything is Better Part Two.” We’ve come to the end of season two. Don’t fret, “Everything is Better, Part Three” will begin shortly. If you don’t want to miss it, subscribe to CeleryLapel or watch this site. I’ll also post a link on tumblr. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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